Multi-state investment scam using WhatsApp groups busted, 12 arrested: UP Police
Aligarh (UP) (PTI): A pan-India cyber investment fraud allegedly involving overseas links was uneartyhed with the arrest of 12 people from six states, police said.
The accused were arrested from Odisha, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for allegedly running a nationwide cyber investment racket through WhatsApp groups, SP (Rural) Amrit Jain said on Saturday.
Working in coordination with the Ministry of Telecommunications, the Aligarh cyber crime cell identified around 600 WhatsApp groups that were allegedly being used to lure and cheat investors across the country, Jain said.
Police claimed that timely action helped prevent an estimated fraud of about Rs 500 crore that could have affected more than 1.5 lakh people nationwide.
The case came to light after Dinesh Sharma, a retired deputy general manager of Punjab National Bank, approached the cyber crime cell on January 31 and reported that he had been cheated of over Rs 11 lakh through a WhatsApp-based investment scheme, the SP said.
According to police, Sharma was allegedly lured with promises of returns of up to 40 per cent per week. Though initially reluctant, he invested Rs 5,000 as a trial amount on December 16 last year and received returns, which increased his confidence, officials said.
Subsequently, he was allegedly persuaded to make a larger investment and was even offered an opportunity to invest Rs 1 crore. When he declined, citing lack of funds, the fraudsters allegedly siphoned off Rs 11 lakh from him, police said.
Acting on the complaint, the cyber crime cell managed to recover Rs 5.64 lakh for Sharma and, in the process, uncovered the larger racket, Jain said.
Police said they contacted more than 500 members across the country who were part of the WhatsApp groups and warned them about the suspected fraud, averting large-scale losses.
The cyber crime cell is now seeking assistance from the CBI and Interpol to trace the alleged masterminds operating from several foreign countries, officials said.
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the BNS and IT act.
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Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
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"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
