The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has busted a cybercrime racket by detaining the main accused from Bengaluru, an official said. The prime accused has been identified as Kiran Kumar K S (31) of Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
Police said Kiran and his associate cheated several people in Uttarakhand through a method known as digital arrest.
STF Senior Superintendent of Police Navneet Singh said the gang came to light during a probe into a case where cybercriminals duped people in Dehradun and Nainital of Rs 87 lakh by posing as law enforcement officers.
He said the gang pretended to be officers of the Greater Mumbai Police and the CBI and kept the victims under digital arrest for nearly 48 hours through video and voice calls on WhatsApp.
Singh said 24 complaints have been filed in different states against the bank account used by the accused, and suspicious transactions of more than Rs 9 crore have been traced to that account.
He said a Dehradun resident had complained that in August–September this year, unknown people digitally arrested him and forced him to transfer Rs 59 lakh online into several bank accounts.
The probe showed that Rs 41 lakh of the Rs 59 lakh was sent on August 30 to a Yes Bank account held by Rajeshwari GAK Enterprises.
The address linked to the account was in Bengaluru, and the mobile number associated with it was registered in the name of Kiran Kumar. Kiran Kumar was questioned in Bengaluru, and based on evidence recovered from him, including bank documents, a mobile phone, the SIM card used in the crime, and a laptop, he was arrested.
The investigation also found that Kiran Kumar has been booked earlier in several cases at the Delhi and Kumaon Cyber Police Stations, as well as in other states.
Additionally, Rajeshwari Rani (40), an account holder of the firm Rajeshwari GAK Enterprises, has been issued a notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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