Dehradun, August 3 (H.S.): The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttarakhand’s Cyber Crime Police has busted an international cyber fraud gang and arrested its mastermind from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. The police had been searching for the kingpin of this network for a long time.
Senior Superintendent of Police, STF, Navneet Singh stated that last year, a retired Subedar Major from the Army Medical Corps residing in Jollygrant, Bhaniyawala, Dehradun, lodged a cyber fraud complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station. In his complaint, the ex-serviceman said he had downloaded a trading app after seeing it on Facebook and joined the Apollo Academy Group through it. The group was operating under the name of a foreign investment company — Apollo India Private Equity (IV) (Mauritius) Limited.
Within the group, a woman claiming to be Assistant Jasleen Kaur facilitated trading activities, and a Customer Service Manager would provide account details to deposit money. Jasleen Kaur later sent him a registration form, stating that trading could not proceed without it. He filled and submitted the form on April 20, 2024. A person named John Peter Hussain, who played the role of a ‘guru,’ gave trading guidance every evening from 8 to 9 PM. The complainant began investing in the scheme and deposited a total of ₹34.17 lakh into different accounts on various dates. He later realized he had been duped. A case was registered for the cyber fraud involving ₹34.17 lakh.
During the investigation, the name of Har Vilas Nandi, son of Vikas Nandi, resident of Faujinar locality, Post Faujinar, Industrial Area Bhilai, Police Station Jamul, District Durg, Chhattisgarh, emerged. To evade arrest, Har Vilas fled to Dantewada, a Naxal-affected region of Chhattisgarh, where he has relatives. However, police kept close surveillance on his movements and finally arrested him from Bhilai. He was brought to Dehradun on transit remand.
Police investigation revealed that over ₹3.46 crore had been transacted through his bank account in just one month. Authorities also seized foreign currency from the UAE, Oman, and the USA, a UAE residential card, an Indian Aadhaar card, a PAN card, an ATM card, and a Vivo mobile phone with SIM from his possession. Across India, a total of 37 complaints have been registered against his bank account.
Further investigation revealed that Har Vilas had lived in Dubai for 10 years and was currently employed as a supervisor at a steel company in Bhilai, Durg. He also lured laborers in his network and bought their bank accounts for ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh, which were then used for fraudulent transactions.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
