The cyber crime police arrested Pawan Anweshi, 43, a Ranchi-based businessman, in a ₹47 lakh fraud in which a senior citizen was threatened by fraudsters impersonating police and investigating agency officials. The accused allegedly allowed his company’s bank account to be used for receiving and routing the proceeds of cyber fraud for a commission.
The case was registered on September 30 on the complaint of a female senior citizen of Chandigarh.
Between September 16 and 17, the complainant received WhatsApp voice and video calls from persons posing as Chandigarh Police officials. They falsely told her that her identity had been used to obtain a SIM card in Jammu and Kashmir and that she was linked to hawala money and terror funding, with the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) allegedly involved. She was shown fake Supreme Court orders threatening arrest and ten years’ rigorous imprisonment, was told not to inform her children, and was kept on video call from September 16 to 27 under the pretext of “verification”. Under this pressure, she transferred ₹47 lakh to various bank accounts.
The accused from Jharkhand, was arrested on October 27. He is the proprietor of a private firm called Sparklers India, in whose bank account the cheated money was received. The company majorly deals in trading business and is classified as a “company limited by shares”, having authorised capital stands at ₹10 lakh.
{{/usCountry}}The accused from Jharkhand, was arrested on October 27. He is the proprietor of a private firm called Sparklers India, in whose bank account the cheated money was received. The company majorly deals in trading business and is classified as a “company limited by shares”, having authorised capital stands at ₹10 lakh.
{{/usCountry}}Verification of the bank records and technical evidence led the police team to Ranchi, Jharkhand, where a raid was conducted and the accused was arrested.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that his company was running at a loss. He then came in contact with a person from Nagpur, Maharashtra, who put him in touch with an individual engaged in cyber fraud. The accused then met other fraudsters at a hotel in Noida, Uttar Pradesh and allowed them to use his account by handing over access to his mobile phone, laptop, SIM card and the company’s Bank of India account to them. Thereafter, from September 22 onwards, fraud proceeds of about ₹4 crore including 35 lacs of present case, were allegedly transferred into his company.
The accused has been sent to judicial custody after completion of 2-day police remand.