Mumbai: The Mumbai West Cyber Police arrested a 24-year-old resident from Pune on October 22, who, along with his associates, allegedly duped a 73-year-old Vile Parle-based woman of ₹1.13 crore on the pretext of investing in the online share market, promising high returns.
The Mumbai Police's West Cyber Cell arrested the suspect in connection with the ₹1.13 crore fraud case from Pune. The accused, identified as Omkar Manoj Mane (24), was apprehended in the Wagholi area of Pune. According to Cyber Cell officials, out of the ₹1.13 crore defrauded, ₹1 lakh was transferred to Omkar Mane's bank account.
The arrested accused, identified as Omkar Manoj Mane, a resident of Mahaveer Nagar, Avalwadi Road, Wagholi, Pune, was found to have received the complainant's money in his account. During the investigation, police discovered that his bank account had been used for several cyber fraud transactions, and there were 18 complaints across the country registered on the NCCR portal against his account, said a police officer.
A few days ago, a complaint was filed with the Vile Parle police station regarding the fraud of ₹1.13 crore. Based on this complaint, the Cyber Cell registered a case under IPC Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 120(B), as well as IT Act Sections 66(C) and 66(D). During the investigation, the Cyber Cell found that ₹1 lakh of the defrauded money had been deposited into an IndusInd Bank account. Upon tracing this account, it was found to be registered in the name of Omkar Mane.
After obtaining the address linked to this bank account, the Cyber Cell team visited Wagholi and arrested the suspect. Further investigation revealed that 18 complaints had been registered against this bank account on the NCCR portal, indicating that cybercriminals repeatedly used this account to launder the proceeds of fraud, paying commissions to the account holder each time.
The main suspect, also from Pune, was using Mane's bank account and providing him with substantial sums of money on a monthly basis. The police team is still in Pune, searching for this main suspect, added a police officer.
According to the police, the complainant is a housewife who lives with her husband and daughter in the Vile Parle area. Her husband runs an auto parts supply business, while their daughter and son-in-law work for a private firm. She was using WhatsApp on her mobile phone when, on February 21, she was added to a group comprising 171 members. The group admins, Mehar Bhatiya and Aditya Bansal, used to send information about stock market trading to the group.
She monitored the messages and, after a few days, found the information to be accurate. She then contacted group admin Mehar Bhatiya, expressing interest in investing. Bhatiya informed her that if she invested in IPO stocks in the trading market, she would get a 100% profit. Mehar Bhatiya sent her the link https://www.jdhufg.com to open a trading account and asked her to register on it. She submitted her documents, opened the trading account, and made investments by depositing money from time to time in different bank accounts provided by the fraudsters, said a police officer.
She deposited ₹1.13 crore, and her profits appeared to more than double. However, when she was unable to withdraw her funds, she realized that she had been duped. The woman then registered a case at the West Cyber Police Station in June, and the police began an investigation. After scrutinizing the technical evidence, the accused was arrested from Pune, and further investigation is ongoing, said a police officer.
