Jharsuguda, Nov 22: Jharsuguda police busted an inter-state cybercrime racket and arrested four of its members from Gujarat for looting Rs 34 lakh from a man keeping him under digital arrest.
The arrested have been identified as Shahrukh Umar Khatik (27), Sharad Sukalal Mali alias Ajay (25), Rahil Seikh (24) and Malek Shahrukh Hanif Isha (26) from Surat in Gujarat.
Jharsuguda SP, Smit P Parmar said, “The accused targeted vulnerable elderly couples who live alone and have significant bank balances posing as senior offices of law enforcement agencies and sometimes even threatened the victims by posing as senior officers of police.”
According to reports, Jagdish Karabhai Bhardwaj filed a complaint with Jharsuguda Sadar police in May this year alleging that some unidentified persons, posing as officers of a law enforcement agency, threatened to arrest him in a money laundering case.
They trapped Jagdish holding him a victim under digital arrest and siphoned off Rs 34 lakh from his bank account through bank transactions in two phases.
Jharsuguda Sadar police launched an investigation following the complaint and Jharsuguda cyber cell had been tracking the case for the last five months.
After extensive analysis of digital evidence and in-depth financial investigation, police zeroed down on suspects and traced them in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The four accused were nabbed following several raids by a special team of Jharsuguda police in various areas of the states.
At least 20 cell phones, three laptops, as many personal computers and Rs 2 lakhs in cash were seized from the accused. Besides, around Rs 17 lakh is in the process of being frozen and Rs 14 lakh have been reverted to the bank account of the complainant. The teams also sealed an office of the accused in Surat.
