Man with Mandarin skills arrested for running cyberfraud gang for Chinese national
The suspect’s phone indicated he was in regular contact with the Chinese national, who was running the fraud operation in India with his assistance.
A 27-year-old man from Bihar was arrested from Kempegowda international airport in Bengalurufor for his alleged involvement in a cyber fraud case in which ₹78 lakh was cheated from a Gurugram resident, police said on Tuesday. They added that the suspect, who was trying to flee the country during his arrest, is fluent in Mandarin and had gone to Beijing for his higher studies, has been operating a cyber fraud gang on behalf of a Chinese national in India for the past three years.
According to police, the suspect identified as Navneet Kumar Bharti is originally from Karanja in Aurangabad, Bihar and was arrested on August 27. They added that a lookout circular for Bharti was issued following which was detained by security personnel while trying to board a flight to Thailand. Following his arrest, Bharti was brought to Gurugram, where he was placed on a six-day police remand for detailed interrogation until Tuesday.
Deputy commissioner of police (cybercrime) Siddhant Jain said that chats on WhatsApp and Telegram found on Bharti’s mobile phone indicated he was in regular contact with the Chinese national, who was running the fraud operation in India with Bharti’s assistance. He said another key member of the gang, an Indian based in Thailand, had asked Bharti to come to him for running the gang for which he was flying after reaching Bengaluru from Aurangabad.
“We have served notices to both messaging apps to share details so that the real identity of the foreign national could be traced along with the location where he is based,” Jain added. “We have recovered three mobile phones, two SIM cards, and ₹30,000 cash from Bharti’s possession. The phones will be sent for forensic analysis to retrieve any deleted data,” the DCP said.
DCP Jain further said that Bharti had earned a bachelor’s degree in Mandarin from Central University of Sikkim and then shifted to Beijing where he had taken admission in master’s course to learn Mandarin in Beijing Language and Culture University. During his studies, Bharti connected with a Chinese suspect, which eventually led him to assist in cybercriminal activities. “After he returned to India in 2021, he started operating for the suspect by helping him in establishing a gang, communicating with members, and providing him with at least six bank accounts that were used in duping several crores from victims across India,” the DCP added.
Meanwhile, Priyanshu Dewan, assistant commissioner of police (cybercrime), said that Bharti had been previously arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in Giridih, Jharkhand, on August 9, 2022, in connection with another cyber fraud case. The investigation into that case revealed that Bharti’s gang had cheated over ₹4.35 crore from hundreds of victims. “He was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on February 6 last year, after which he shifted to Bengaluru and resumed running the gang,” Dewan said.
“This time, one of his victims was a 55-year-old housewife from Gurugram who was duped of ₹78 lakh in task-based fraud. A complaint was filed on October 14 last year at the Cybercrime police station in Manesar, leading to the registration of an FIR,” Dewan added.
Investigators managed to freeze some of the stolen funds and reverse a portion of the amount back into the victim’s bank account. During the probe, four other gang members were arrested, though Bharti remained at large, police said. Police are still searching for at least two more suspects involved in the case, they added. Notably, Bharti was previously arrested by the Government Rail Police at Kanpur Central railway station in 2022 but escaped custody, resulting in another case being filed against him. Police said that after returning to India, he had even worked in a multinational ecommerce firm in Chennai while continuing to run the gang.