New Delhi: Delhi Police have arrested five people in separate operations for their alleged involvement in cyber fraud networks linked to Chinese operatives, officials said on Friday.
According to officials, the North-West District Cyber Police Station solved a cheating case involving two accused, Pawan and Mankiraat Dhillon, who allegedly duped a victim of Rs 21 lakh under the pretext of offering lucrative returns from share market investments.
The accused lured the victim through a fake investment application that mimicked the interface of a legitimate brokerage platform, showing fabricated profits, losses, and investment details. The victim transferred the entire amount in three separate transactions to bank accounts shared by the fraudsters, who maintained contact via Telegram and WhatsApp, they said.
The police investigation revealed that the accused persons were in contact with Chinese nationals through Telegram channels and groups. They procured bank accounts from individuals in their surroundings and supplied them to the Chinese nationals on a commission basis via Telegram. The accused persons were arrested from their hideout in Mohali, Punjab, and several incriminating items, including ATM cards, cheque books, passbooks, SIM cards linked to bank accounts, and mobile handsets used in the fraud, were recovered.
According to the press note, the police also recovered evidence of the accused persons' travel to Nepal, where they received the cheated amount in the alleged bank account facilitated by their foreign associates. Hotel bills from Nepal and air tickets related to their travel were also recovered.
In a separate incident, the Cyber Police Station, South-West District, has busted a sophisticated interstate cyber fraud syndicate, which was operating across states and channelling cheated money to China via USDT and cryptocurrency platforms. Three accused persons, Mahender Singh Rajawat, Ariph Khan, and Laxmi Narayan Vaishy, all residents of Jaipur, Rajasthan, have been arrested, and six smartphones used in the commission of cyber fraud have been seized, they said.
The case stems from a complaint lodged by K Kant, who was contacted via WhatsApp and Telegram with a proposition to earn money by posting positive reviews for hotels and restaurants online. Initially, the complainant received small payments for such tasks. However, he was soon deceived into transferring over Rs 15.8 lakh under various false pretences such as "welfare tasks," "account unfreezing," and "credit score improvement." Consequently, a case FIR U/s 318(4)/61(2) of BNS was registered at Cyber PS South-West District, and an investigation was initiated.
As per the press note, though the complainant had deleted the WhatsApp number and the fraudulent link, the team conducted a detailed technical analysis and tracked the money trail, leading to multiple raids in Jaipur, Ajmer, and nearby regions. Accused Mahender Singh Rajawat was the first to be apprehended. Though he initially tried to mislead the team but thorough interrogation revealed the identities and roles of co-accused Ariph Khan and Laxmi Narayan Vaishy. Multiple raids were carried out at their hideouts, and both Ariph Khan and Laxmi Narayan Vaishy were apprehended.
The investigation revealed that the accused persons were in direct contact with a Chinese national operating via Telegram from outside India. They provided multiple bank accounts for laundering proceeds of crime, and the stolen money was deposited into these accounts, withdrawn within 20 minutes, and converted to USDT (cryptocurrency), they added.
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