New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested two Kotak Mahindra bank employees and the purported director of a city-based shell firm, cracking a digital arrest case in which a man was allegedly defrauded of Rs 14.20 lakh.
Police said the two Kotak Mahindra team leads in the account opening department—Md. Kaif (21) and Monish (21), both residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli—facilitated opening fraudulent accounts which were allegedly used to defraud victims of Rs 2.20 crore.
Police have also arrested Sashindar Ram (29), a resident of Rangareddi in Andhra Pradesh.
ThePrint has reached out to the Kotak Mahindra Bank through email for a comment. The report will be updated if and when they respond.
The police action followed as they received a complaint on 21 February from Satyapal Gupta, a resident of Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, where he said he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown person posing as a senior police officer.
Satyapal said in his complaint that the caller told him that bank accounts in his name were involved in money laundering activities and that he would be arrested soon.
The caller told him to pay money if he does not want to be arrested.
“Acting under fear and pressure created by the fraudster, the complainant transferred a total amount of Rs 14.20 lakh to the bank account provided by the caller. Later, upon realising that he has fallen victim to a cyber fraud, the complainant approached the police and lodged a complaint,” an officer added.
A case was registered under BNS sections 308 (an act done with intent or knowledge that could cause death but doesn’t result in death) 318(4) (large-scale fraud) 319 (cheating by personation) and 340 )forged documents or electronic records used as genuine) at the Cyber Police Station.
Police constituted a team, and during the course of investigation, the details of the layer-1 beneficiary account (where the stolen money is transferred immediately after the victim sends it) were obtained.
“The account was found to be an ICICI Bank current account, under the name: Renudar Services & Solutions Private Ltd. The mobile numbers and email ID registered with the said account were analysed for further leads,” police said.
Police said it was a fraudulent shell company made just for this purpose only.
Police said that on 9 March, the layer-1 bank account holder and the director of the said firm, Sashindar, was apprehended from the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT), Kashmere Gate.
Police said that during enquiry they found that Sashindar was allegedly actively involved in allowing the use of his bank account for the commission of the fraud.
It was further revealed that the account had been opened specifically for facilitating such illegal transactions, police said, adding he was arrested after interrogation.
“During interrogation, the accused disclosed the involvement of his associates who had lured him with the promise of commission in exchange for providing his bank account for carrying out fraudulent transactions,” DCP (outer) Vikram Singh said.
Subsequently, police acted on technical surveillance and field intelligence, and arrested Md. Kaif and Monish, from Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana and Saharanpur, respectively.
“The duo worked as team leaders involved in opening bank accounts in Kotak Mahindra Bank, which were allegedly used for facilitating cyber fraud activities,” said the DCP.
Police recovered three mobile phones. An examination of the devices led to the recovery of incriminating WhatsApp chats related to the case, which further established their involvement in the cyber fraud network, police said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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