Noida: Man held for aiding ‘digital arrest’ gang with his bank a/c

Suspect Prasad got a commission of ₹27,000 for providing a fake bank account to the digital arrest gang

Noida: The cybercrime police have arrested a suspect for allegedly providing his “fake bank account” to a “digital arrest” gang to dupe a Noida resident to the tune of ₹52.50 lakh in mid-August, said officers on Friday.

With the help of sources and electronic surveillance, suspect Jamuna Prasad (above), 40, a resident of Hathras, was arrested on Thursday. (HT Photo)

Jai Raj Sharma, 26, a native of Jharkhand and resident of Sector 20, Noida, who works at a private bank in Noida, in his police complaint said: “On August 11, I received a call from an unidentified number and was informed that my (mobile phone) number would stop working within two hours. I was told to press 1 to talk to Cybercrime Branch Mumbai.”

As Sharma pressed one, he was told that he was involved in a money laundering case of Airlines that siphoned off ₹7 crore. The fraudsters then asked him about a mobile number, it said.

When Sharma denied any link with that number, he was told that his identity cards were used for the SIM. “Later, my call was transferred to another suspect who posed himself as a police officer. I was asked to download Skype, and they put me under digital arrest, telling that this is a case of national security. My laptop and mobile screen were also shared,” reads the FIR that followed his complaint.

Vijay Kumar Gautam, station house officer, cybercrime branch, said that the victim was then asked to declare his assets and savings over that video call.

“Initially, he transferred all his savings to ₹29 lakh. But when fraudsters kept demanding more for bail, he took money from his father on the pretext of a start-up business and lost ₹52.50 lakh in multiple transactions,” the officer said.

Sharma was put under digital arrest at home from August 11 to 17 but was allowed to perform personal tasks.

“A case of fraud under relevant sections of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) and IT Act was registered at the cybercrime branch on August 29 and multiple teams were formed to nab the suspect,” the SHO said, adding that with the help of sources and electronic surveillance, a suspect, Jamuna Prasad, 40, a resident of Hathras, was arrested on Thursday.

“During investigation, the suspect (Prasad) revealed that he had opened a fake bank account and provided it to a man called Bhola, also a resident of Hathras. Prasad got a commission of ₹27,000 for providing a fake bank account to the digital arrest gang. Efforts are underway to trace Bhola, who is connected with the gang,” the SHO said, adding that an amount of ₹2.59 lakh transferred in Bhola’s account has been freezed.