Investment fraud targeting Indians from Nepal: Mangaluru police arrest 11 people
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): The Mangaluru Cyber Crime Police have arrested 11 people allegedly linked to an organised investment fraud syndicate operating from Nepal that targeted Indian citizens and siphoned off crores of rupees, police said on Thursday.
According to the commissioner of Police Mangaluru City Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the cross-border network involved Indian operatives coordinating online investment scams through social media platforms. Five additional suspects remain absconding, while foreign associates are being probed separately.
Digital forensic examination of seized devices revealed details of 624 bank accounts suspected to have routed fraudulent proceeds. Over 4,580 complaints linked to these accounts are recorded on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Investigators said one account alone saw transactions exceeding Rs 167 crore.
The case registered at the cyber police station relates to a complaint in which a victim was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.38 crore through transfers to 10 bank accounts now linked to multiple cybercrime cases nationwide.
Police said the syndicate recruited account holders through Instagram and Telegram, promising commissions and jobs, before diverting funds into cryptocurrency and transferring them abroad.
Authorities also warned of 'digital slavery', where Indian youths are lured overseas on false job assurances and forced into cyber fraud operations.
Those arrested were identified as Makvan Vikram (25) of Gujarat; Soumyaditya Chattopadhyay (21) of West Bengal; Pupla Shiva Kumar Rao (32), Rajesh Mandan (30), and Mithun Kumar Mangaraj (38) of Jharkhand; Gaurav Pandey (24), Harsh Mishra (22), Mohammed Akeeb Ali (27), and Naushad Ali (34) of Uttar Pradesh; Rajiv Ranjan Kumar (30) of Bihar; and Om Prakash Yadav (37) of Rajasthan.
Police seized a laptop, 21 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards and multiple debit and credit cards.
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3 held, hunt on for 4 accomplices after they kidnap, assault and urinate on man in Bhopal
Bhopal (PTI): Police have registered a case against seven persons and arrested three of them for allegedly kidnapping, assaulting and urinating on a 22-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, officials said on Thursday.
The incident occurred during the intervening night of April 26 and 27 in an area located under the Hanumanganj police station limits, an official said.
One of the accused urinated on the face of the victim and captured a video of the act, which was later circulated on social media to humiliate him, he said.
"A complaint in this connection was lodged by Jaswant Markam (22), a resident of Kamla Nagar, based on which a case was registered against seven persons under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and police have arrested three of them, including one Prem Thapa," Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.
Three police teams have been formed and the remaining suspects will be apprehended soon, he said.
During the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Markam was at the local bus stand with a friend when around 4 am, the accused took him away on the pretext of discussing something with him. They asked him about his neighbour and friend Aniket. When he refused to provide any information, they started assaulting him, the police said.
The accused then took him to a forest in Karond area, where he was stripped and severely thrashed, they said.
When the man began to lose consciousness, one of the accused urinated on his face and made a video of the act, which was circulated on social media to humiliate him and spread terror, according to the police.
The accused called Markam's friend around 5 am to inform him about his condition. The victim was subsequently admitted to a hospital, the officials said, adding that the viral video was also being investigated.
Responding to a query, Hanumanganj police station in-charge Awdhesh Bhadoria said if the victim was found to be from the tribal community, then relevant sections will be invoked against the accused.
At present, the police are probing the incident and search is on to arrest the remaining accused, he added.
In 2023, a man had urinated on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media platforms and created a controversy.
