Team Herald
PANJIM: The Cyber Crime Police have arrested two more individuals in connection with a fake police complaint and extortion case, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
The accused have been identified as Rakesh Laxman Patil (39), a resident of Panvel-Raigad, Maharashtra, and Sachin Rajaram Patil (38), from Kalambursare-Raigad, Maharashtra.
According to investigators, a WhatsApp user impersonating a Delhi Crime Branch police inspector falsely informed the victim that a police complaint had been registered against her. The scammer then sent forged letters bearing the name of the Supreme Court of India, coercing the victim into transferring a total of Rs 1 crore through multiple transactions to three different bank accounts.
Upon realising the fraud, the victim filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police, leading to an in-depth investigation.
Through technical and financial analyses, along with interrogations of previously arrested suspects, investigators traced and identified the two latest accused. These individuals were found to be operating mule bank accounts used for transferring the extorted money and were linked to a larger hawala network.
Further interrogation revealed that both suspects were associates of co-accused Rahul Mishra and played a crucial role in providing mule accounts to swiftly launder the stolen funds.
The accused have been remanded to police custody for further investigation.
So far, the Cyber Crime Police have arrested five other individuals in connection with the case. Authorities have also seized: Eight mobile phones, one laptop, two hard disks, frozen Rs 40 lakh linked to the crime.