Mangaluru (PTI): A woman in her twenties from West Bengal has alleged that she was drugged and "sexually assaulted" after arriving in Mangaluru on April 16, police said.

The woman, who had been working at a plywood factory in Kerala, travelled to the city by train with a male acquaintance. After a dispute, she parted ways with him and took an auto-rickshaw, they added.

According to her statement on Wednesday, the auto driver helped repair her damaged phone and offered her food. He later allegedly gave her a spiked drink, causing her to lose consciousness. She later found herself in a car with three men, including the auto driver, and was reportedly abandoned on the roadside after she raised an alarm, police said.

She approached a nearby house, where residents contacted the police. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

After regaining consciousness, she told police she suspected sexual assault during the period she was unconscious.

A case has been registered at Ullal Police Station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to assault and sexual offences.

Three suspects—Prabhuraj (38), Mithun (37), and Manish (30)—have been detained for questioning.

Police said multiple teams have been deployed to investigate the incident.

Further details are awaited.

 

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Hyderabad (PTI): The DGGI, Hyderabad zonal unit, on Thursday said it has identified an alleged organised syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating "illegal" online gaming websites in the country with the assistance of associated fintech companies and arrested one of the masterminds.

It further said it has launched a massive crackdown on online gaming syndicates, including action against associated fintech companies, freezing bank accounts to the tune of Rs 100 crore and has begun arresting the masterminds.

As part of the online gaming investigation, GST Intelligence, Hyderabad arrested Pankaj Kumar, founder and director of Adsum Advisory Service Pvt Ltd, the city-based firm, which provides services for fraud detection and customer verification/digital KYC verification, a release from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad zonal unit said.

"Evidence gathered during the investigation pointed to the identification of an organised syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating illegal online gaming websites with assistance of associated fintech companies, including payment aggregator, payment gateway and third-party technology service providers, wherein Pankaj Kumar is one of the masterminds responsible for fraudulent KYC verification of merchants and shell entities on behalf of RBI regulated entities like Payment Gateways and Banking as Payment Aggregator (BAPA)," it said.

Being director of a company responsible for KYC verification process, Kumar "failed" to develop risk profiling of customers based on ownership and control structure and helped in onboarding of shell entities for UPI integration required for flow of money from online gaming, it alleged.

The DGGI, Hyderabad unit, further alleged Kumar, is one of the beneficiaries who received "illegitimate" proceeds of crime generated by the online gaming syndicate.

Further investigation is under progress, the release added.