Dehradun: Four months of intense manhunt and finally the STF and cyber police managed to arrest the prime accused in a 'digital house arrest' case, involving fraud transactions to the tune of over Rs 2 crore. In a sensational case of cyber fraud, a businessman from Dehradun lost Rs 2.47 crore after falling prey to a scam, perpetrated by a 19-year-old boy from Rajasthan's Jaipur.
How Victim Was Duped
As per the complaint lodged with police, on September 9, 2024, the victim businessman, a resident of Niranjanpur, received a phone call from someone claiming to be from Mumbai Cyber Crime Police. The victim was told that crimes are happening by misusing his mobile number and Aadhaar. The caller soon disconnected, asking the victim to communicate via WhatsApp only. When the victim tried to call back, he saw that the number has been removed from his call log.
Later, the victim received a video call which showed a man impersonating a police officer, claiming that his bank account was linked to criminal transactions. He was also warned that if he discloses the matter before anyone, he would face consequences of National Security and Secret Act, money laundering, and punishment like jail term and heavy penalty.
Scared, the victim complied with whatever the scammers instructed, and kept on dealing with transactions from his account. "By sending my location on WhatsApp every three hours, they would tell me that I am under surveillance, and asked me not to travel elsewhere," the complaint mentioned.
The fraudsters even sent fake legal notices and sought access to all his bank account details to check his funds and track illegal transactions, if any. The gang kept the victim under digital house arrest for seven days through video calls and messages on WhatsApp by posing as Mumbai Cyber Crime Police Officer, and the latter kept on depositing money in the accounts from September 11-17, 2024.
The scammers assured him that his money would be refunded after verification but warned that his house could be auctioned if any transactions were found illegal. When they continued demanding more money, the victim realised that he has been scammed. But by then, he had already lost Rs 2.47 crore.
19-Yr-Old Scammer Arrested From Rajasthan
In October, the victim launched a cyber complaint, on the basis of which the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) led by SSP Navneet Bhullar, launched a detailed investigation. "A case was immediately registered. The police team examined bank account details, phone numbers, and information from service providers, Meta, and Google. And eventually the main accused was identified and nabbed from Rajasthan," Bhullar said.
Nearly after four months of investigation, mastermind Neeraj Bhatt was arrested in Jaipur. Police recovered a mobile phone and the SMS alert SIM card linked to AU Small Finance bank account from him, which was used in the scam. Further investigations revealed that similar complaints have been filed in Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra against the same bank account being used by the 19-year-old accused for the fraud.
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