In a major breakthrough, the Bhadohi Cyber Police dismantled a nationwide investment trading fraud racket and apprehended two individuals from Bankat village in the Gyanpur police station area on Tuesday. The Bhadohi Cyber Crime Police Station team arrested two members of an interstate cyber fraud gang that operated through counterfeit trading and investment platforms, including a website named 'FISD PRO'.
Details of the Arrest and Seizures
According to Bhadohi Superintendent of Police Abhinav Tyagi, over 100 complaints have been registered against the gang on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). The cyber police team successfully froze more than Rs 30 lakh in various bank accounts linked to the gang. Special police teams are conducting raids to apprehend other wanted accused individuals.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Mannu Singh and Omprakash Gautam, both residents of Bhadohi district. During the operation, police recovered five mobile phones, seven SIM cards, five ATM or debit cards from different banks, three passbooks, three chequebooks, two forged Aadhaar cards, one PAN card, two bank account opening forms, 43 Aadhaar update forms, one biometric thumb machine, two stamp pads, Rs 2,750 in cash, and one Paytm QR card.
Scope of the Fraud
More than 50 NCRP complaints have been registered against the bank accounts and cyber fraud network of the arrested criminals from various states, including Kerala, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, and Bihar. The gang prepared fake enterprise registration certificates with back dates and opened current and corporate accounts in the names of fictitious firms in multiple banks. They deposited money obtained from the fraud into these accounts.
The fraudsters created fake documents by superimposing their photographs on Aadhaar cards of other individuals and operated using forged SIM cards, WhatsApp, and Telegram accounts. One account in a private bank was found operating under the name of 'Siddharth Enterprises', with Omprakash Gautam as proprietor. Twenty-eight NCRP complaints have been registered against this account, which witnessed suspicious transactions totaling approximately Rs 77 lakh within six days.
Cases have been registered at Rohtas (Bihar) Cyber Crime Police Station under sections 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340, and 61 of the BNS, at Kaithal (Haryana) Cyber Crime Police Station, and at Mahadevapura, Bangalore (Karnataka) Cyber Crime Police Station. Another account was found operating in the name of the wanted accused's firm, with seven NCRP complaints registered against it, involving dubious transactions exceeding Rs 1.03 crore. A case was registered at Ghaziabad (UP) Cyber Crime Police Station.
Role of Arrested Individuals
Mannu Singh allegedly operated fake accounts in collusion with bank officials and provided net banking IDs and passwords to other gang members. Singh and his wife Reema Singh are also accused of involvement in transactions and concealing or disposing of the ill-gotten money. In this regard, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has temporarily attached properties in Bhadohi belonging to Mannu Singh and Reema Singh.
Another gang member, Sumit Singh, who is currently absconding, previously served as a branch manager of a private sector bank and was involved in a fraud of more than Rs 31 crore using accounts of the National Highways Authority of India. During a search, jewellery and cash were recovered, and other accused, including Mannu Singh, were arrested. A case has been registered at Bhadohi Cyber Crime Police Station.
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