LUDHIANA: Cyber cheats from Assam and Bengal duped industrialist and Padma Bhushan awardee S P Oswal , chairperson of the $1.1bn Vardhman Group , of Rs 7 crore by purportedly masquerading as members of a CBI team probing misuse of his Aadhaar for passport and financial fraud, Ludhiana Police said Sunday after arresting two suspects from Guwahati the previous day and recovering Rs 5.2crore from them.
Investigators said this was the highest amount seized in a cybercrime case in the country, based on data available with MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordi nation Centre.
Ludhiana police commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said Vardhman Group lodged a complaint after Oswal realised he had been tricked into transferring money to two accounts. Till late Sunday, nobody from the company was available for comment.
Atnu Chaudhary and Anand Kumar Chaudhary, the arrested men, were part of a nine-member gang that allegedly convinced Oswal about CBI registering a case against him after finding that his Aadhaar had been used to send a parcel to Malaysia containing 58 fake passports and 16 debit cards.
The web of deceit started with a person claiming to be a CBI officer from Mumbai calling the industrialist, the police commissioner said . The imposter then made a video call , wearing a police uniform and seated in an office with CBI’s logo in the background. He sent a fake “arrest warrant” to Oswal over WhatsApp, claiming it was authorised by SC .
The caller got Oswal to transfer Rs 7 crore to two bank accounts for bail proceedings and claimed he was being placed under “digital arrest”. After Oswal’s team lodged the complaint, investigators promptly initiated a process to get the bank accounts frozen , the police said.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO of Ludhiana cybercrime police station, said the gang member asked Oswal to transfer Rs 4 crore to one account and deposit Rs 3 crore in three transactions into a second bank account.
By the time the accounts were frozen, the suspects withdrew Rs 1.7 crore . “We have already returned to the complainant the Rs 5.2crore that was seized,” Singh said.
Investigators said this was the highest amount seized in a cybercrime case in the country, based on data available with MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordi nation Centre.
Ludhiana police commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said Vardhman Group lodged a complaint after Oswal realised he had been tricked into transferring money to two accounts. Till late Sunday, nobody from the company was available for comment.
Atnu Chaudhary and Anand Kumar Chaudhary, the arrested men, were part of a nine-member gang that allegedly convinced Oswal about CBI registering a case against him after finding that his Aadhaar had been used to send a parcel to Malaysia containing 58 fake passports and 16 debit cards.
The web of deceit started with a person claiming to be a CBI officer from Mumbai calling the industrialist, the police commissioner said . The imposter then made a video call , wearing a police uniform and seated in an office with CBI’s logo in the background. He sent a fake “arrest warrant” to Oswal over WhatsApp, claiming it was authorised by SC .
The caller got Oswal to transfer Rs 7 crore to two bank accounts for bail proceedings and claimed he was being placed under “digital arrest”. After Oswal’s team lodged the complaint, investigators promptly initiated a process to get the bank accounts frozen , the police said.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO of Ludhiana cybercrime police station, said the gang member asked Oswal to transfer Rs 4 crore to one account and deposit Rs 3 crore in three transactions into a second bank account.
By the time the accounts were frozen, the suspects withdrew Rs 1.7 crore . “We have already returned to the complainant the Rs 5.2crore that was seized,” Singh said.
