Azamgarh man held for cheating people via fake Ludo betting groups

A large stash of cybercrime-related material was seized from him, including seven mobile phones, 16 bank passbooks, 15 checkbooks, 44 ATM cards, two seals, a diary, two barcode machines, and ₹850 in cash.

A 25-year-old man was arrested, for running a fake Ludo betting group on Telegram and allegedly cheating people under the pretext of online gaming, from Nasirpur Khalsa village in Azamgarh district on Monday.

Police said that during technical analysis and intelligence gathering, the name of Suraj Prajapati emerged as the suspect. (FOR REPRESENTATION)

Police said a large stash of cybercrime-related material was seized from him, including seven mobile phones, 16 bank passbooks, 15 checkbooks, 44 ATM cards, two seals, a diary, two barcode machines, and ₹850 in cash.

The accused has been identified as Suraj Prajapati, a resident of Nasirpur Khalsa village under Nizamabad Police Station in Azamgarh district.

A police officer said multiple complaints were filed against Prajapati on the Pratibimb portal, accusing him of cyber fraud through online gaming and betting and cheating people.

Acting on the complaints, the Cyber Crime Police Station team, supervised by additional superintendent of police (Nodal Cyber) Vivek Tripathi and circle officer Sadar Aastha Jaiswal, launched an investigation.

Police said that during technical analysis and intelligence gathering, the name of Suraj Prajapati emerged as the suspect. On November 15, based on his location, inspector-in-charge Devendra Pratap Singh and his team arrested him from his home.

Singh said that Suraj Prajapati had created multiple fake Telegram IDs and operated several groups, including Mahadev Ludo Group, RP Ludo World, Ludo Junction 5%, Ludo King Betting, King Ludo Club, Nisha Ludo Club, and Superstar Ludo Club. He lured people by promising earnings through online gaming, set up betting tables, and then cheated them by asking them to deposit money into bank accounts he provided, the officer added.

He said that a case has been registered against him under sections 318(4), 319(2) BNS, Sections 66C, 66D of the IT Act, and Section 3 of the Public Gambling Act—Cyber Crime Police Station, Azamgarh.