CUTTACK: The Cyber Crime unit of Crime Branch on Monday arrested seven persons - two for their alleged involvement in swindling money from pilgrims by creating a fake website, and the other five in separate cases of investment fraud.
Briefing mediapersons, special DG, Crime Branch Vinaytosh Mishra said in the first case, police arrested accused Anshuman Sharma (24) and his aide Aravinda Kumar (35), both Uttar Pradesh natives, for allegedly defrauding gullible pilgrims seeking accommodation in Puri, through their fake website www.neeladribhaktanivas.
The matter came to light after Arabinda Padhee, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration, filed a complaint in this connection on March 10. As per the complaint, the fraudsters had been asking pilgrims to deposit money online to get accommodation at Neeladri Bhakta Nivas in Puri.
A laptop, mobile phone, SIM card, details of the fake website Niladri Bhakta Nivas, Aadhaar card, PAN card, hosting details of Niladri Bhakta Nivas and the SIM card used for registration of website have been seized from the accused persons, he said.
Meanwhile, five other miscreants have also been arrested in separate cases of investment fraud. In the first case, the Crime Branch nabbed one Hiteshbhai Patra (39) from Surat in Gujarat for his alleged involvement in an investment fraud of Rs 1.28 crore.
Police said Patra originally belongs to Balasore but works as a website developer in Surat. “He is the first layer account holder and Rs 27 lakh was seized from his bank account. Six bank cheque books, 31 debit and credit cards, 13 rubber stamps of different fake companies, 12 mobile phones, SIM cards, four pen-drives, and eight government and non-government ID cards were seized from his possession,” said Mishra.
Similarly, CB has arrested 25-year-old Parth Parmar of Ahmedabad in connection with another case of investment fraud amounting to Rs 7.5 crore. “He is the first layer account holder and a sum of Rs 25 lakh was directly deposited to his account,” Mishra said.
In another case, Thakkar Karsanji Sobhaji (48) of Thakkarbhas in Bhavar and Kureshi Mohammed Aslam (31) of Kapadvanj in Gujarat were arrested in connection with investment fraud of Rs 87.80 lakh. Both are the first layer account holders and a sum Rs 9.3 lakh and `6 lakh respectively were seized from their bank accounts.
The CB team has also arrested Akash Kesharwani (33) of Arail More under Naini police station in UP in connection with an investment fraud of Rs 1.4 crore. He is the second layer account holder and Rs 3.7 lakh has been transferred to his account.