Gurugram Police busts interstate cyber fraud gang; nine arrested

Gurugram, Jan 16 (PTI) The Gurugram Police has busted an interstate gang of cyber criminals by arresting nine people from Rajasthan for their alleged involvement in frauds carried out under the guise of investment schemes and online gaming, officials said on Friday.

According to the officials, the gang maintained links to criminals based in Dubai and lured people through instant messaging application groups and fraudulent links.

A cyber police team tracked the accused to a hideout in Rajasthan's Kota and arrested them on Wednesday.

The arrested accused were identified as Lekhraj Meena (25), Manish (21), Anil Bairagi (24), Sonu (26), Deepak (25), Himanshu (23), all residents of Kota. The other arrested men are Sanskar alias Pranshu (24) and Gagan Patel (19), both from Madhya Pradesh, and Manish (24), from Rajasthan's Bara.

The police seized 13 mobile phones, three laptops and 37 ATM cards from their possession.

The officials said the accused revealed that Rs 2.4 lakh of the defrauded money was transferred to a bank account under the name of "Madhav Associated Company".

This account belonged to Lekhraj Meena, who sold the account to Manish for Rs 10,000. Manish had also opened a fraudulent bank account of Anil Bairagi using a fake rent agreement, for which Manish received Rs 40,000 from Anil Bairagi.

"The investigation revealed that Anil Bairagi and Sanskar worked in connivance with cyber fraudsters in Dubai," said Priyanshu Dewan, ACP Cyber.

"Bairagi rented a flat in Kota for Rs 15,000 a month to run the operation. Fraudsters in Dubai provided links to instant messaging application groups or online gambling sites. Once the victims were defrauded, the money was moved through these bank accounts and eventually sent to Dubai." The gang sent 70 per cent of the cheated amount to their handlers in Dubai and kept a 30 per cent commission. The other members of the gang worked for Bairagi and Sanskar on a monthly salary of Rs 15,000.

A spokesperson of the Gurugram Police said the accused were produced in a city court on Thursday and have been sent to judicial custody. PTI COR AKY AKY