JHARSUGUDA: In a major breakthrough, Jharsuguda police busted an inter-state cybercrime racket and nabbed four of its members from Gujarat for holding a victim under digital arrest and siphoning off Rs 34 lakh from his bank account. The incident took place in May this year.
The accused were identified as Shahrukh Umar Khatik (27), Sharad Sukalal Mali @ Ajay (25), Rahil Seikh (24) and Malek Shahrukh Hanif Isha (26), from Surat in Gujarat. As per reports, in May this year, Jagdish Karabhai Bhardwaj filed a complaint with Jharsuguda Sadar police in which he stated the accused persons, posing as officers of a law enforcement agency said he was involved in a money laundering case. The accused held Jagdish under digital arrest and siphoned off Rs 34 lakh from his bank account through bank transactions in two phases.
Following the complaint, an investigation was launched and Jharsuguda cyber cell had been tracking the case for the last five months. After extensive analysis of digital evidence and in-depth financial investigation, police zeroed down on suspects and traced them to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Subsequently, several raids were conducted in various areas of the states and the four accused nabbed.
At least 20 cell phones, three laptops, as many personal computers and Rs 2 lakhs in cash were seized from the accused. Besides, around Rs 17 lakh is in the process of being frozen and Rs 14 lakh have been reverted to the bank account of the complainant. The teams also sealed an office of the accused in Surat.
Jharsuguda SP, Smit P Parmar said, “The accused targeted vulnerable elderly couples who live alone and have significant bank balances. They disguised and projected themselves as senior offices of law enforcement agencies and sometimes even threatened the victims by posing as senior officers of police.”
He said the accused threatened victims by saying that they are involved in money laundering cases and if they did not respond immediately, nobody would be able to help them. Eventually, they told the victims that as of now they have been placed under ‘digital arrest; and to save themselves, the victims will have to comply with them.
The accused used Skype calls to contact the victims. They had also prepared an Excel sheet having UPI (Google Pay and PhonePe) Ids of hundreds of people. As soon as money was credited to their bank accounts, they immediately transferred it in small chunks to hundreds of accounts. Further investigation is underway, the SP said. A case has been registered under section 419, 420 of the IPC along with section 66-D of the IT Act.
IG, Northern Range, Himanshu Kumar Lal said, “The victims of digital arrest include people of all classes and ages. People have lost lakhs of their hard-earned money due to such fraud. No investigative agency will ever contact a citizen over phone or video call,” he said while appealing people to remain vigilant and careful when they receive such calls.
One should not panic when they receive a call from someone pretending to be an official of a law enforcement agency. People should think twice before responding to such calls and also report the issue through Cyber helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in, the IG added.
Modus operandi
The accused posed as law enforcement officials and intimidated victims
They held the victims under digital arrest after making them feel helpless