PNS | DEHRADUN
The Dehradun Cyber Crime police station of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a college student Kripal Sharma, who is studying in an engineering college in Dehradun, on charges of duping several people across the country by falsely promising job opportunities.
The accused allegedly contacted young job seekers through LinkedIn, offering them employment in his fake company, the senior superintendent of police of STF Navneet Singh Bhullar said. He informed that multiple complaints were registered on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) portal from states including Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chandigarh and Delhi.
The complaints indicated that an individual operating from the Nanda Ki Chowki and Premnagar areas of Dehradun was using a fake website named Nutrino Lab to deceive job seekers. The SSP said that the accused contacted the young job seekers through LinkedIn, conducted interviews and then coerced the applicants into purchasing a tablet from Nutrino Lab for amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. Once the victim made the payment, the accused would block them and sever all communication, as per Bhullar. Based on an analysis of mobile numbers and bank accounts associated with the complaints, the STF identified the accused as a student of an engineering institute in Premnagar.
An STF team apprehended Kripal Sharma, a resident of Siliguri, West Bengal, late on Thursday from the Premnagar area. During the arrest, officials seized a laptop, a mobile phone, two tablets, four bank credit cards, two cheque books and a diary from his possession.
The SSP said that a case has been registered against Sharma at the Premnagar police station under charges of fraud and violations of the Information Technology (IT) Act. During interrogation, he disclosed details about two current bank accounts linked to his fraudulent activities. Investigators are examining these accounts to determine the extent of financial transactions and the total amount defrauded from job seekers, Bhullar stated. The investigation is ongoing to identify further victims and any possible accomplices involved in the scam, he added.
