Hyderabad: 36 Arrested in Major Crackdown on Online Fraud

 Hyderabad: In a major crackdown on online fraud, Hyderabad police have arrested 36 persons from Gujarat in the last two months for their involvement in cases of investment fraud, courier fraud and other internet based crimes.

These individuals were accused in 20 cybercrime cases registered in police stations across Hyderabad, including 11 cases of investment fraud, four each of trading fraud, courier fraud and one case of 'know your customer' (KYC) fraud.

Just these 20 cases amount to Rs 12.49 crore in crime proceeds. These 36 arrested persons have 983 cases registered against them in the country. Hyderabad police has frozen Rs 4.4 crore funds of the accused and returned `1.5 crore to the victims. More Rs 2.90 crore is set to be returned to the victims.

In a press meet on Saturday, police commissioner Kothakota Sreenivas Reddy appreciated the efforts of the cybercrime personnel.

"Our cyber cell received a complaint from a 74-year-old woman doctor who stated that the accused contacted her through a video conference call posing as police officials from Andheri, Mumbai, and stated that there is a case against her in a money laundering case," Srinivas Reddy said.

The fraudsters demanded the victim to come to the Andheri police station for questioning and threatened to arrest her if she failed to do so.

Later, the fraudsters agreed to question her through a video call and sent her letters with forged letterheads of the Reserve Bank of India, the Supreme Court and the Central Bureau of Investigation. “The victim panicked and transferred Rs 1.6 crore in two separate bank accounts, the details of which were provided by the accused,” the commissioner said.

The accused in this case were identified as Sagar Goradhanbhai Prajapati of Surat, and Parmar Kirit Nathubhai of Bhavnagar in Gujarat. They said one Deepak Rawat from Kolkata had helped them open a current bank account which they used to cheat people.

On May 22, Prajapati deposited Rs 2.15 crore in multiple bank accounts. Upon analysing the bank account details, police found that 10 police cases were registered against the holder of the same bank account, which helped in cracking the case.

Police seized Rs 10,08,000 in cash, 17 cheque books, 22 debit cards of different banks, among others.

The same police team busted an online investment fraud with the arrest of Chudasama Kuldeepsinh Anopsinh, Jedeja Daivatsinh Kiritsinh and Sinojiya Ketan Sureshbhai from Rajkot, Gujarat.

The victim, a local from Ramkote, lodged a complaint with the city police stating that fraudsters contacted him through WhatsApp and told him of 500 per cent profit plan. They lured him to invest `2 crore.

In a separate investment fraud, the police arrested another two fraudsters involved in an investment fraud from Surat. The accused targeted and defrauded `60,88,730 from a 60-year-old retired man from Begumpet.

The prime accused Kanani Nikunj Kishore Bhai is a chartered accountant. The other accused Pravinbhai Kalubhai Vasoya had sent the message to the target.

The cyber crime team seized Rs 27,20 lakh in cash, bank cheque books and accounts from the possession of the accused.