Delhi police arrest two for defrauding woman of Rs 18 lakh through cyber fraud

New Delhi [India], July 26 (ANI): Delhi Police have arrested two individuals for allegedly committing cyber fraud. The arrests were made following a complaint by a woman who claimed she was defrauded of Rs 18 lakh after joining a WhatsApp group that purported to teach stock chart analysis.

The arrested suspects were identified as Mohamad Ali, 25, and Deepu P, 25, both residents of Bangalore, Karnataka.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South West, Rohit Meena, a complaint was lodged on February 21 by Nalini Khanna, a resident of RK Puram, Delhi. She alleged that she had joined a WhatsApp group through an invite link on Facebook.

In the group, members claimed they would teach stock chart analysis and broadcast their lessons daily via a link. They persuaded her to open an institutional account, buy two shares daily, and sell them the next day to earn profits, the police officer said.

The suspects presented themselves as representatives of MC Group & LKP Securities. The complainant opened her institutional account with them and invested Rs 18 lakh from her UCO Bank account in three transactions into the accounts provided by the suspects.

When she attempted to withdraw her money, she was unable to do so. The suspects then asked her to invest more to retrieve the remaining amount, after which she realised she had been cheated.

Following a preliminary inquiry, a case was registered under Section 420 of the IPC, and an investigation was initiated.

The police team employed a dual strategy in their investigation: tracking the money trails and pursuing technical leads, the DCP said.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the defrauded amount was credited to three different bank accounts. Of the total of Rs 18 lakh, Rs 4 lakh was credited to the Federal Bank account associated with Deepu.

An analysis of the Federal Bank account linked to FlashStep Technology Private Limited revealed a total credited amount of Rs 3,27,22,749. Further checks on the NCRP (National Cybercrime Reporting Portal) revealed 40 complaints associated with the account.

After sustained interrogation, Deepu P and Mohamad Ali admitted to opening nine current accounts–three with Federal Bank, three with SBI, and three with RBL–and providing these accounts to an unknown person over WhatsApp. They received Rs 1,10,000 each as commission for these accounts, the police said.