New Delhi, 17 Oct (UNI) Delhi Police have arrested 12 members of a cybercrime network allegedly involved in ‘digital arrest’ frauds, fake investment schemes, and online romance scams, which collectively duped victims of over Rs 2.6 crore, an official said today.
According to the police, the arrests were made after a week-long coordinated operation across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
In one case from South Delhi, an elderly victim was cheated of Rs 42.49 lakh after fraudsters, impersonating police officers, falsely accused him of money laundering and pressured him into transferring the money.
Three men were arrested from Pali, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 7.08 lakh was recovered and returned to the victims through court orders.
In Agra, Uttar Pradesh, two individuals were arrested for allegedly defrauding a victim of Rs 40.27 lakh through an online romance and investment scam.
The police said the accused used social media to entice the victim with promises of marriage and lucrative investment returns.
Devender Kumar, one of the accused, created multiple bank accounts to disguise the source of the illicit funds through a chain of transactions, a senior officer said, adding that his associate Shivam, alias Ashu, was found involved in several criminal cases.
From Jalandhar, Punjab, a key facilitator who supplied multiple mule bank accounts for cyber fraud was apprehended by a separate team, where the accused, Anil, was found linked to earlier cases of similar cases registered in Punjab.
In a separate operation in Una, Himachal Pradesh, police arrested 26-year-old Naman Puri, who was allegedly involved in a digital arrest scam in which victims were deceived by impersonators posing as TRAI and police officials.
According to police, the complainant was defrauded of Rs 30 lakh, and Rs 11 lakh has been retrieved so far.
Md Parvez was arrested in Meerut for his involvement in an online investment scam that cheated a teacher, the police said, further adding that, of the Rs 33.9 lakh lost in the scam, Rs 1.75 lakh was recovered.
Parvez allegedly provided his bank account to an associate to carry out commission-based fraudulent transactions.
Two other accused, Deepak Saini and Mudit Arora, were arrested in Saharanpur for defrauding an IT professional of Rs 29.74 lakh in a stock market investment scam.
According to an official police statement, they allegedly impersonated SEBI and Morgan Stanley officials to persuade the victim to invest in a fraudulent AI-powered trading platform.
In Kanpur, police arrested Mehvish Akhtar in connection with a share market scam involving multiple-layered transactions amounting to Rs 31 lakh, while in Mahoba, Neelesh Kumar was held for a similar fake investment fraud of Rs 26.9 lakh.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said that over Rs 2.61 crore was involved in the frauds linked to the arrested accused, and technical surveillance and financial tracking were crucial in identifying their movements.
