Odisha Crime Branch arrests woman cyber criminal in Rs 87 lakh investment fraud case

Bhubaneswar:  The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested a woman cybercriminal from Delhi in connection with investment fraud worth Rs 87 lakh, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

The accused lady identified as Vandana Bawa is a resident of South Delhi.

She was arrested on Tuesday and is being brought on transit remand to Odisha following the permission of Local court at Saket, New Delhi.

As per the crime branch sources, the victim, a private company employee who resides at Sailashree Vihar in Bhubaneswar, was added to an unknown WhatsApp group named “101 Stock Discussion Group,” purportedly led by an imposter, who identified himself as a Professor.

“The fraudsters, under the pretext of providing stock trading tips, IPO guidance, and investment strategies, manipulated I the victim into registering on two shared web links,” added the official.

The accused fraudsters later persuaded the victim to invest in stocks trade through the fake applications created by the fraudsters.

Believing it to be a legitimate investment opportunity, the victim deposited around Rs. 87 lakh into various accounts of fraudsters in IndusInd Bank, PNB, and other banks through multiple transactions on different dates.

“The investigating team lead by Additional SP Ritesh Kumar Mohapatra, after analysing the transaction details and working upon other digital evidence had camped at New Delhi and after verifying the details in the locality, have successfully identified and arrested the perpetrator of Crime,” revealed Crime official.

The Odisha police team have seized various incriminating articles including a mobile Phone, two Indian SIM cards, an Aadhaar card and a PAN card.

Several bank accounts of the fraudsters have been frozen by the police that also refunded Rs 10 lakh to the complainant.

“From NCRP Samanvaya portal it has been ascertained that the same account of the accused is also involved in two more cyber incidents of Kerala and Gujarat,” the senior police officer further added.

The Crime Branch has intensified the probe to ascertain other accomplices involved in the investment fraud. The police is also trying to find out the trans-India ramification of the investment fraud and the money trail in it.

–IANS