PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a man Kailash Saini (32) from Jaipur, Rajasthan, on charges of duping a Haridwar woman of over Rs 1.43 crore through an online investment scam. According to senior superintendent of police of STF Navneet Singh Bhullar said that the victim received a WhatsApp message from a United Kingdom based number claiming to represent a firm called Quantum Capital. Another individual, posing as an Indian broker, contacted her through a different WhatsApp number. The SSP informed that to gain the victim’s trust, the fraudsters encouraged the victim to invest Rs 12,000, promising a return of Rs 16,000. After this initial transaction, she was convinced to invest Rs 18 lakh through the firm’s online portal which claimed to increase returns by 50 per cent. The accused regularly contacted the victim through WhatsApp calls and instructed her to invest money through a trading portal. A fake website was used to show profits and the victim was told that withdrawal requests will be processed within 15 minutes. However, the victim never received any funds and the fraudsters delayed responses when questioned, as per Bhullar. He said that the officials found during the investigation that Rs 64.27 lakh was transferred through Quantum Capital and Rs 78.75 lakh was transferred through QYOU Media, amounting to a total fraud of Rs 1.43 crore. The STF identified multiple bank accounts used in the transaction and found that Rs 55.94 lakh was transferred to five bank accounts in Alwar, Rajasthan. The accounts had transactions totalling Rs 2.33 crore and 15 complaints had been filed against them on the National Cyber Crime Portal. Bhullar said that the STF examined digital and technical evidence to track the accused and raids were conducted in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Following an analysis of bank records, mobile numbers and online service providers, the team located Saini on Jaipur Highway. Upon his arrest, officials recovered a mobile phone, two SIM cards and SMS alerts related to bank transactions. Investigation revealed that Rs 30.50 lakh had been transferred into his bank account through fraudulent means. Three complaints are also registered against his account on the National Cyber Crime Portal. The investigation is ongoing, he added.
