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Three arrests in Lucknow unravel Cambodian links of cyber thugs
The gang had called a doctor in Vikas Nagar on August 20, giving him information about a courier in his name from Iran containing drugs and illegal documents. After posing as crime branch officers, they made him talk to a partner and digitally arrested him for two days, duping him of ₹48L:Cops
LUCKNOW The UP STF arrested three men who helped a gang of cyber frauds involved in extorting money by digitally arresting victims, including a doctor in Lucknow who was duped of ₹48 lakh. The trio, nabbed from Agra Expressway in Lucknow on Tuesday, used to open corporate accounts to aid the fraudsters who converted these funds into crypto currency and sent the same to the other members according to their share in digital scams, said officials.
The accused were identified as Shyam Singh, 27, Harshal Kumar, 33, Puneet Sharma, 25, all residents of Delhi. In November, cops had arrested seven people, including five from Gurugram and two from Lucknow, the STF stated in a release.
The gang had called Dr Ashok Solanki of Vikas Nagar on August 20, giving him information about a courier in his name from Iran containing drugs and illegal documents. After posing as crime branch officers, they made him talk to a partner and digitally arrested him for two days and cheated him of ₹48 lakh.
During interrogation, one of the accused, Shyam, said that in February he was contacted by Karan alias Nagesh who offered him a lucrative job. Shyam was told that he will get 2% commission on gaming, 5% on stocks, 10% on mixing and 30% on scamming. Karan, who was recently arrested, also told Shyam that a corporate account would be required for sending money, said cops.
“He spoke to his friends - Harshal, Puneet Sharma alias Gagan and Rajkumar - after which Rajkumar started providing corporate accounts,” read the press note.
Shyam told cops that one Pankaj Surela had come to India after taking training in digital arrest from Cambodia. Another person, Suresh Sain, who lives in Cambodia, had sent Pankaj and hundreds of others to that country for the same purpose. They used to digitally arrest people from Cambodia through a Chinese gang involved in cyber fraud and transfer money to their accounts, he added.
As soon as money came into the bank account, it was transferred in 4-5 layers to the previously added beneficiary account through Nagesh. In the last 3-4 months, members of his gang defrauded ₹8 crore from a hotel in Sector 52, Noida, into the corporate account of ICICI Bank, the release added.
