Saturday, 19 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a man identified as Sanjeev Malhotra who was wanted in about 20 States for allegedly committing financial fraud amounting to crores of rupees. Over 45 cases are registered against him across the country. The accused has also duped a Dehradun woman of Rs 46 lakh on the pretext of providing her work from home and part time job, said the deputy superintendent of police of the Cyber Cell police station of STF, Ankush Mishra. He said that the complainant was duped in the name of charging taxes and charges for providing the job. When the cybercrime teams started the investigation, they found that the accused is connected with Delhi after which teams were sent there. The teams also analysed the bank account numbers which were also reportedly opened using fake IDs and documents. The STF finally arrested the accused from the Kirti Nagar area of Delhi on Friday, said Mishra.
He claimed that the accused is also a Hawala operator working in the name of Import Export (IMPEX) in Delhi and has done illegal transactions amounting to Rs six crore in the last one month alone. Talking about the modus operandi of the accused and his gang, Mishra said that after a person approaches them for a job, they give him or her tasks to like and subscribe to profiles and videos on YouTube or Instagram by sending links in the name of earning good profits. They initially pay a good amount to the person to gain their confidence and then later lure them to invest money to earn quick profits.
The DSP said that they are investigating the accused to nab other people involved in the scam. The senior superintendent of police of STF, Ayush Agarwal also appealed to the public not to make online transactions for quick profits. If one becomes a victim of such scams, the person should immediately register a complaint in the nearest police station or contact the cyber helpline number 1930 as more complaints against culprits by the victims can help the authorities to nab them sooner, he added.
