Team Herald
PANJIM: The Cyber Crime Cell of Goa Police has cracked two cases of cyber fraud amounting to around Rs 29 lakh by arresting two persons from Rajasthan and West Bengal. Both cases were registered in May this year.
In the first case, the Cyber Crime Cell arrested a Rajasthan native for allegedly duping a Bardez resident of Rs 21.15 lakh by posing as FedEx and Mumbai Crime Branch officials. According to the complaint, the accused, identified as Ram Nivas, a resident of Rohata, Pali, Rajasthan, along with other fraudsters, impersonated officials of FedEx Customer Care and the Mumbai Crime Police. They falsely informed the complainant that a parcel in her name had been detained and that her credentials were being misused in cases related to money laundering, drug trafficking, and theft.
Further, under the pretext of financial verification, the fraudsters induced the complainant to transfer Rs 21,15,744 into two different State Bank of India accounts. During the course of the investigation, technical surveillance and analysis led the police to Pali, Rajasthan, where Rs five lakh had been withdrawn from the accounts involved in the crime. A team from the Cyber Cell proceeded to Pali and arrested the accused. During the investigation, the police recovered a mobile phone, a bank passbook, and an ATM card used in the commission of the crime, police said. An offence under Sections 419 and 420 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act has been registered, and further investigation is in progress, police said.
In the second case, the police arrested a 26-year-old man from West Bengal for allegedly duping a Dabolim resident to the tune of Rs 7.69 lakh in a cyber fraud. According to the police, the accused, identified as Amariit Das, a resident of Girish Park, Kolkata, along with his accomplices, contacted the complainant posing as officials from FedEx and the Mumbai Crime Police. Under the pretext of investigating a parcel allegedly containing banned materials in the complainant’s name, they coerced the complainant into transferring Rs 7,69,876 into an ICICI Bank account.
Upon investigation, the Cyber Crime Police employed technical surveillance and identified the accused. A team travelled to Kolkata and apprehended the accused. During the investigation, two mobile phones and a passbook used in the commission of the crime were recovered from the accused. The Cyber Crime Police Station has registered a case under Sections 419 and 420, read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 66-D of the Information Technology (IT) Act. The case is being investigated by PI Deepak Pednekar.