Bengal court sentences nine to life imprisonment in cyber fraud case

Kalyani (WB), Jul 18 (PTI) A court in West Bengal's Nadia district on Friday sentenced nine members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang to life imprisonment for extorting nearly Rs 1 crore from a scientist.

The nine – four from Maharashtra, three from Haryana and two from Gujarat – were found guilty of duping a retired agricultural scientist of nearly Rs 1 crore.

Additional district and sessions judge, S Sarkar sentenced all the nine persons to life imprisonment.

The court had on Thursday pronounced them guilty under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

The victim had lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police station at Kalyani under West Bengal's Ranaghat police district on November 6, 2024.

The victim had stated that he was coerced by fraudsters posing as officials into transferring money to the tune of nearly Rs 1 crore in various bank accounts after being put under 'digital arrest' by them, Additional SP (headquarters), Ranaghat police district, Siddharth Dhapola, said.

Acting on the complaint, police launched a month-long operation and arrested the convicts from different states.

A large number of mobile phones, bank documents, PAN cards and cheque books were seized during the operation, Dhapola said.

The racket has international links, and the kingpin is believed to be based in a Southeast Asian country, police said. PTI COR AMR RG