Monday, 20 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The cyber crime police of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested Ashwani Kumar (36), a resident of Bihar, from Delhi for his alleged involvement in perpetrating the Rs 1,200 crore scam. The authorities have also announced a bounty of Rs 10,000 on the head of this absconding accused.
The STF has so far identified a total of 13 accused in this scam, out of which STF has arrested six accused and issued notices under 41 A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to four accused besides issuing look out circular notice against three accused, said the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Cyber Crime, STF, Ankush Mishra. He said that a Haridwar local filed a complaint in the cyber police station of Dehradun in September 2021 that he was duped of Rs 15 lakh in the name of investing in online trading from China. The STF started the investigation and gathered details through mobile numbers and bank accounts used by fraudsters to dupe the victim.
The investigation revealed massive money-laundering and Chinese connections in the crime and arrested one accused from Faridkot in Punjab near the Pakistan border, two from Bhopal and one from Rourkela in Orissa last year. A Nepalese Hawala operator Yam Bahadur was also arrested last month from Delhi who used to allegedly transfer the money collected through cyber fraud to other countries like Dubai and Nepal. The DSP said that all arrested accused are allegedly part of a cyber criminal group that commits cyber frauds using fake websites created by their accomplices in foreign countries to lure people to invest their money in the name of providing huge profits. He informed that this cyber criminal group had established dozens of counterfeit companies across the country to scam people in the name of online trading. They have also transferred crores of rupees to other countries through cryptocurrency in the name of film screenings. He said that the STF gathered information about the arrested accused Ashwini Kumar during the investigation and nabbed him in Delhi on Sunday.
A mobile phone used in carrying out the scam besides a laptop and debit card were also recovered from him. The DSP said that the STF will arrest more accused in this scam. He also appealed to the citizens to refrain from unauthorised online investments to get quick profits without verifying the authenticity of the company.
