Mangaluru (Karnataka), Feb 5 (PTI) The Mangaluru Cyber Crime Police have arrested 11 people allegedly linked to an organised investment fraud syndicate operating from Nepal that targeted Indian citizens and siphoned off crores of rupees, police said on Thursday.
According to the commissioner of Police Mangaluru City Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the cross-border network involved Indian operatives coordinating online investment scams through social media platforms. Five additional suspects remain absconding, while foreign associates are being probed separately.
Digital forensic examination of seized devices revealed details of 624 bank accounts suspected to have routed fraudulent proceeds. Over 4,580 complaints linked to these accounts are recorded on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Investigators said one account alone saw transactions exceeding Rs 167 crore.
The case registered at the cyber police station relates to a complaint in which a victim was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.38 crore through transfers to 10 bank accounts now linked to multiple cybercrime cases nationwide.
Police said the syndicate recruited account holders through Instagram and Telegram, promising commissions and jobs, before diverting funds into cryptocurrency and transferring them abroad.
Authorities also warned of ‘digital slavery’, where Indian youths are lured overseas on false job assurances and forced into cyber fraud operations.
Those arrested were identified as Makvan Vikram (25) of Gujarat; Soumyaditya Chattopadhyay (21) of West Bengal; Pupla Shiva Kumar Rao (32), Rajesh Mandan (30), and Mithun Kumar Mangaraj (38) of Jharkhand; Gaurav Pandey (24), Harsh Mishra (22), Mohammed Akeeb Ali (27), and Naushad Ali (34) of Uttar Pradesh; Rajiv Ranjan Kumar (30) of Bihar; and Om Prakash Yadav (37) of Rajasthan.
Police seized a laptop, 21 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards and multiple debit and credit cards. PTI COR GMS GMS ADB
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