Udupi: In a significant development, Udupi Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police arrested four individuals from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in connection with a massive online trading scam that defrauded a local resident of Rs 75 lakh.
The accused have been identified as:
Mohammed Kais (20) from Surathkal
Ahmed Anveez (20) from Kaup, Udupi
Safwan (30) from Bantwal
Taseer (31) also from Bantwal
The case was registered based on a complaint filed by Jossy Ravindra D’Cruz (54) from Kaup, who was lured into investing in a fake online gold trading platform named FXCM Gold Trading.
According to police, the fraud began when a woman named Arohi Agarwal contacted D’Cruz through Facebook in February. She soon moved the conversation to WhatsApp and convinced him to invest by promising high returns. Over time, D’Cruz transferred Rs 75 lakh from his bank account, only to realize later he had been scammed.
Under the direction of Udupi SP Hariram Shankar and supervision by ASP Harsha Priyamvada, a special investigation team led by Inspector Ramachandra Naik of CEN police station tracked down and arrested the four suspects. During the operation, officials seized Rs 4 lakh in cash and multiple mobile phones used in the scam.
Authorities confirmed that additional suspects in the case remain absconding, and efforts are ongoing to track and apprehend them.
The case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and online fraud.
