Noida STF Cracks Down on Bomb Hoax and International Betting Operation
In a significant breakthrough, the Noida unit of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) apprehended six individuals on Friday, linking them to a series of bomb threat emails that targeted approximately 20 schools in the district last month. The investigation, which spanned international borders, ultimately led authorities to a residential property in Bisrakh, where an elaborate online betting scheme was being conducted.
From Bomb Threats to Betting Racket: The Investigation Unfolds
According to Rajkumar Mishra, Additional Superintendent of Police for Noida STF, the alarming emails were received by schools on January 23, just days before Republic Day celebrations. In response, senior police officers, alongside specialized units including the bomb disposal squad, dog squad, and fire department, conducted thorough sweeps of the campuses. Fortunately, all threats were confirmed as hoaxes.
To trace the origin of these emails, a formal case was registered at the Surajpur police station. The charges included sections 351(4) for criminal intimidation and 353(4)(b) for statements conducing to public mischief under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Section 66 of the Information Technology Act. Initial digital forensics pointed to servers in the United States, but further scrutiny revealed a recovery email ID linked to Bangladesh, eventually guiding investigators to the house in Bisrakh.
Raid Reveals Elaborate Illegal Betting Operation
During the raid on Friday, STF officials discovered nearly 30 individuals operating from the premises. Six of them were detained for questioning: Amish Jang Kari, Lekhnath, Kedarnath, Ananth Kumar, Divyanshu, and Sahil Kumar. Notably, three of the suspects—Kari, Lekhnath, and Kedarnath—are Nepalese citizens.
Law enforcement seized a substantial cache of evidence, including:
- Four laptops and 22 mobile phones
- 16 debit and credit cards
- Two Nepalese passports and various identity cards
- A chequebook and Rs 19,500 in cash
During interrogation, the accused confessed to running an online betting operation that defrauded citizens from the United States, India, and Nepal. They employed sophisticated tactics, such as posing as tech support executives for betting applications to entice victims into placing large wagers. To conceal their location, they utilized Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which initially misled investigators by showing their activity as originating from the USA. Payments were processed through bitcoins, with funds subsequently transferred via hawala networks.
Background of the Accused and Ongoing Probe
Further details emerged about the suspects' backgrounds. Amish, a resident of Kathmandu, Nepal, completed a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Australia between 2019 and 2022. He later partnered with a man named Devraj to launch a gaming application called Gamemano in 2023. Ananth, based in Agra, connected with Amish through social media and joined the venture, bringing along Divyanshu, a former colleague from a Noida office.
Lekhnath and Kedarnath, both holding MBA degrees, had previously worked with Devraj in 2023 and were introduced to Amish through him. A critical piece of evidence was uncovered when police found that the recovery email associated with the bomb threat address had been accessed on a mobile phone seized from one of the arrested individuals.
Additional SP Mishra emphasized that while this connection has been established, the motive behind sending the hoax bomb threats remains under active investigation. The STF continues to explore all angles to ensure comprehensive justice in this complex case involving cybercrime and international fraud.
