4 men, trained by Jamtara gangs, held for duping Covid-19 patients

The accused have been identified as 19-year-old Ritik Singh, Yogesh Singh, 23-year-old Mohammad Arzoo and 24-year-old Ravish Abiram.

The police have arrested four men who were allegedly trained in cyber crime by gangs of Jamtara, Jharkhand, and used to cheat Covid-19 patients and/or relatives in Delhi-NCR of money after promising them oxygen cylinders. Delhi Police said while six cases that were reported from Delhi have been solved.

Police have so far worked out six cases of cheating reported from Karol Bagh, Hauz Khas, Najafgarh, Kalkaji, Uttam Nagar and Kotla Mubarakpur in Delhi.

The accused have been identified as 19-year-old Ritik Singh, Yogesh Singh, 23-year-old Mohammad Arzoo and 24-year-old Ravish Abiram. Police have recovered six mobile phones, 14 SIM cards, a laptop, three two-wheelers, and multiple ATM cards, PAN cards and credit cards from these men.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Jasmeet Singh said on May 3, police received a complaint from a Karol Bagh resident, Kshitij Mehra, who said he had contacted on a phone number to enquire about an oxygen cylinder for his friend who was a Covid-19 patient.

“Mishra said the man who answered the call introduced himself as Ritik Singh and demanded payment for the cylinder. Mishra paid him ₹47, 500 in several online payments after which the man was not reachable on phone. Once we got the complaint, we investigated the money trail, found the bank accounts and SIM cards used in the fraud and zeroed in on Ritik Singh. Subsequently, a search was conducted in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, and the suspect was arrested last Friday,” the DCP said.

Singh said following Ritik’s arrest, his accomplices Yogesh, Arzoo and mastermind Ravish were all arrested on Monday.

“During further investigation, Ravish told police that he had undergone training in cyber fraud in Jamtara, Jharkhand, and he had learnt different techniques to dupe people. He admitted that they used to get innocent men and women to open bank accounts by offering them a fixed salary every month. The mobile phone used to cheat people and the credit and debit cards used to withdraw the amount from the said accounts were also recovered from the possession of the arrested men,” the DCP said.

He said police have so far worked out six cases of cheating reported from Karol Bagh, Hauz Khas, Najafgarh, Kalkaji, Uttam Nagar and Kotla Mubarakpur in Delhi. “Further probe to nab the remaining members of the gang is underway,” the officer said.