Multi-crore extortion racket busted, lens on role of Chinese nationals: Delhi Police

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (cyber cell) KPS Malhotra said raids were conducted in Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, leading to the arrest of 22 people.

Updated on: Aug 20, 2022, 23:29:12 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Sohini Goswami

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The Delhi Police on Saturday said an instant loan application and extortion racket worth over ₹500 crore was busted, leafing to the arrest of 22 people, including . Police said as part of the racket data was uploaded to servers based in China, Hongkong, adding they have identified the involvement of Chinese nationals in the racket.

Arrested men have said they were operating at the behest of Chinese nationals.

Stating that money was being routed to China through cryptocurrencies and hawala, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (cyber cell) KPS Malhotra said raids were conducted in Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during which the arrests were made. He said following the crackdown, call centres are being shifted to neighbouring countries.

“Since the crackdown, a new trend of shifting call centers to Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh has been noticed,” the DCP said.

He further said the arrested men have revealed during interrogation that they are working at the behest of Chinese nationals.

“From interrogation of arrested accused persons, it's been revealed that they are operating at the behest of Chinese nationals. Further investigation is in progress. Nine laptops, 25 hard disks, 51 mobile phones and 19 debit cards recovered,” the senior police officer was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

According to reports, hundreds of complaints were lodged alleging that loans were being passed at higher interest rates, and after complete recovery of the money along with interest, the gang used to extort more money from the people using their morphed nude pictures.

Due to social fear and stigma, the users used to pay the money, which was later sent to China through hawala or after purchasing cryptocurrencies,

During investigation, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) of the Delhi Police found that more than 100 such applications were involved in the racket.

(With inputs from agencies)

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