Monday, 24 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a 42-year-old man from Maharashtra who is allegedly involved in cyber fraud worth crores of rupees across the country. The man is also allegedly connected with gang members involved in cyber crimes in China, Hong Kong and Singapore, said the STF senior superintendent of police Ayush Agrawal. He said that the case came to light when a local resident of Dehradun Deepak Kumar filed a complaint in the cyber crime police station about some people having duped him of Rs 22.48 lakh by luring him into investing in an online gold business. A team was formed to probe the matter.
The team investigated the mobile number and account details provided by the complainant that revealed that the money scammed by cyber criminals was transferred to somewhere in Latur, Maharashtra. Following the lead, a team was sent to Maharashtra for further investigation. Agrawal further informed that the team gathered information and evidence related to people managing bank accounts, fake websites and carrying out the hawala operation among other activities through technical analysis and surveillance. The investigation revealed information about a mastermind who played a crucial role in opening the bank account in which scammed money was transferred.
The STF team soon arrested the accused Pravin Ramchandra Thorat from Latur. The SSP said that Thorat revealed the modus operandi in the preliminary inquiry stating that they return the money with good profits in the beginning after they lure people to invest in gold. Such profits make the targeted people greedy and they tend to make huge investments in the fake company. They later inform them through WhatsApp that they cannot withdraw the money unless they invest more. Most of the people fall into their trap and make more and big investments out of greed, said Agrawal. He said that the arrested accused had allegedly received crores of rupees from different parts of the country into his bank account in the last one month.
The accused has also allegedly helped his gang members in hiding about Rs five crore. Their gang is also connected to criminals in Hong Kong and Singapore, and is being presently investigated by the STF, added the SSP. He also appealed to the citizens to refrain from unauthorised online investments to gain quick profits without verifying the authenticity of the company.
