Ludhiana: West Bengal techie held for planning ₹86-lakh cyber fraud

Though police have not yet disclosed his identity, they confirmed that ₹21.5 lakh has been recovered from his possession; the investigation is ongoing to trace the remaining amount and identify other accomplices involved in the fraud

Months after a city-based textile unit owner was duped of ₹86 lakh in a cyber fraud, the Ludhiana Cyber Crime Police have arrested the main accused — a 40-year-old IT professional from West Bengal, who also runs his own tech company. The accused allegedly masterminded the scam and funnelled the stolen funds through multiple accounts.

Police said that the accused is currently being interrogated to identify his network and locate the remaining amount. (Shutterstock)

Though police have not yet disclosed his identity, they confirmed that ₹21.5 lakh has been recovered from his possession. The investigation is ongoing to trace the remaining amount and identify other accomplices involved in the fraud.

The case was registered at the Cyber Crime police station following a complaint from Shrenik Jain, 58, a resident of Dr Sham Singh Road in Civil Lines and the director of a textile company. The incident dates back to December 2024.

In his complaint, Jain stated that on December 17, his accountant Amit Salaria received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number displaying Jain’s photo as the profile picture. Believing it to be his employer, Amit saved the number without confirming its authenticity.

The next day, the impersonator messaged Amit again, asking for the bank account balance and then instructed him to transfer ₹86 lakh to an ICICI Bank account, claiming it was for a new business venture. Thinking the instructions were from Jain, Amit made the transaction without verifying.

The fraud was discovered when Amit later discussed the transaction with Jain over a phone call and realised that an imposter had duped them.

Inspector Satvir Singh from the Cyber Crime Police Station said, “The investigation led us to the bank account where the ₹86 lakh was first deposited. It was then immediately siphoned off through several other accounts. The arrested person is an IT expert and owns a tech firm in West Bengal. We have so far recovered ₹21.5 lakh from him.”

The Inspector added that the accused is currently being interrogated to identify his network and locate the remaining amount. The police have registered the case under Sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Efforts are underway to track down all the bank accounts used in the scam and bring other suspects to justice.