NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has busted a cyber fraud syndicate that extorted Rs 8.10 lakh from a 45-year-old woman using forged documents impersonating the CBI and ED. Four members of the gang have been arrested, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Raja Mandal (27) and Anup Kumar Tiwari (23), who acted as account holders, along with Tushar Thapa (23) and Saurabh Tiwari (23), who arranged the accounts used in the scam.
A senior police officer said, “The woman lodged a complaint alleging that she received a call from an unknown number where the caller claimed to be from the Telecom Department and threatened her for using a fake SIM card in her name. Further, she received video calls from some unknown numbers claiming to be officials from the ED and CBI departments.”
To convince her of the threat, the fraudsters sent forged legal documents bearing fake seals and logos of the Supreme Court, ED, and CBI, accusing her of involvement in a money laundering case. “Further, she was subjected to digital arrest on a live video call for 48 hours at her house along with her daughter and elderly father, from March 5 to March 7,” the officer added.
The woman transferred Rs 8.10 lakh under pressure and later approached the police after realising she had been duped.
“During investigation, the locations of the accused were continuously traced and three accused were arrested on March 31. Interrogation revealed that Tiwari and Thapa used to find local people to open fake accounts in their names and lured them with good commissions for every transaction of received money,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said.
Fake SIM cards were also arranged to access banking OTPs and SMS updates. Mandal, one of the account holders admitted that the account was opened under instructions from Tiwari and Thapa. “During interrogation, it was revealed that Raja Mandal’s account was used for receiving the extorted amount and that it had been opened on the directions of Thapa and Tiwari,” said the DCP.