Karnataka: 2 arrested for duping Belagavi businessman of over Rs 15 crore in ‘digital arrest’ scam
Belagavi (PTI): Two people were arrested in connection with a 'digital arrest' scam in which an 81-year-old businessman allegedly lost over Rs 15 crore after fraudsters posing as CBI officials accused him of involvement in a financial crime, police said on Saturday.
The accused duo -- Venkatesh Sharath Naik and Degavat Sripada Naik -- both residents of Hyderabad, were apprehended during an operation conducted by the investigators recently, they said.
Their arrests followed a detailed investigation into the case registered on March 18 at the Belagavi City Cyber Crime police station.
According to the police, investigators traced 10 beneficiary accounts spread across Hyderabad, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and West Bengal. A Rs 2 crore transfer to a Hyderabad account provided the breakthrough in the probe, following which on April 6, a Cyber Command Unit team raided locations in Hyderabad, leading to the arrest of the two individuals.
Investigators revealed that the duo had handed over their joint account details, internet banking credentials and cheque books to a handler who remains at large.
According to officials, the senior citizen received multiple calls, including video calls, for nearly six weeks.
The fraudsters claimed that the victim had received a Rs 5 lakh commission for laundering Rs 25 lakh and that complaints had been filed against him for illegal financial activities.
Threatening to arrest him in a money laundering case, they allegedly coerced the victim into sharing his account and financial details with them and transferring the money to a “safe or government account,” they added.
They assured him that the amount would be returned after the investigation. The victim grew suspicious when he received no response from the callers and found all mobile numbers untraceable, according to officials. He then complained to the police.
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Two incidents of betting over IPL cricket matches in Mysuru: Five men arrested
Mysuru: Police have arrested five people in two separate cases where betting for the IPL cricket matches was going on, and have confiscated various equipment used by the arrested men for the illegal activity.
In the first case, Hebbal Police arrested two men who were reportedly found betting during the IPL cricket matches, and have confiscated one laptop and three mobile phones from the arrested men.
The arrested men are identified as Pradeep (39) and Praful (21) of Naidu Nagar.
The police team is learned to have conducted the operation on the third floor of a hotel within the Hebbal Police Station limits on getting information of betting over the IPL matches going on. The gamblers allegedly were getting citizens to invest money online and betting illegally on IPL matches over mobile phones and laptops in order to illegally earning money from them.
Pradeep and Praful were taken into custody by the police who have filed a case and are investigating it.
The second incident occurred near the Town Hall on Thursday, May 7, when Devaraja Police arrested three men who were gambling.
The police have arrested Kumar (33) of Mandimohalla, PV Vinod (32) of Ilava and Likhith Kumar (27) of Paduvarahalli.
The three men were reportedly carrying out their criminal activity inside a car parked behind the Town Hall on Thursday, in order to earn money from the IPL tournament through a mobile phone. They were also found to have gotten citizens to invest money online and off-line in the cricket matches.
They were found and arrested by policemen who were on beat in the area near the Town Hall. In addition, one car, Rs 15,900 in cash and three mobile phones were seized from them.
A case has been registered by the Devaraja Police officers, who are investigating the case.
