21 online fraudsters caught in Ranchi

CHIKKAMAGALURU: A gang of 21 online fraudsters was busted in Ranchi of Jharkhand by the Chikkamagaluru police on July 21. The accused were brought to Chikkamagaluru on transit warrant on Monday. 

The arrested men belong to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand. The gang used to avail details of online buyers on various websites and later contacted the buyers. The gang would tell the victims that they have had won a gift for the purchases made. The fraudsters also would convince the customers to deposit a certain amount to get the prize, said Chikkamagaluru Additional Superintendent of Police Jagadeesh. 

Unsuspecting customers would fall into the trap and deposit the money, only to realise that they had been cheated. Mohan Bhat, a resident from Chikkamagaluru, is one of many who was duped by the gang after he made an online purchase from Naaptol.  Soon after the online transaction, the gang called his wife, saying the couple had won a Tata Safari car, but they had to deposit Rs 1.65 lakh towards taxes and to ferry the vehicle to Chikkamagaluru. After making the payment, Mohan Bhat realised that he was cheated and filed a complaint with the Chikkamagaluru police.  A team of policemen, under Inspector Raghu, traced the gangsters to Ranchi in Jharkhand. With the help of Jagannathpur police, the jurisdictional police, the team nabbed the gangsters. 

Later, they obtained transit warrant and ferried them to Chikkamagaluru on Monday. The gangsters also cheated online job-seekers, who were asked to deposit a certain amount and were kept waiting for jobs. The gang also placed advertisements to cure sexually transmitted diseases. They would send the victims some powders, which did not cure any problem, the police said.   The gangsters were produced before the Chikkamagaluru Court on Monday and were remanded to police custody, Mr Jagadeesh said. However, kingpins of the online fraud, Kharasingh Sharief, who is from of Bihar, and Kotresh, a resident of Surpur in Yadgiri taluk are absconding, the police said.