The cyber crime police on Wednesday arrested Ashish Pal, a 23-year-old resident of Ayodhya, for allegedly assisting cybercriminals in a fake stock market investment scam involving Rs80.60 lakh. Authorities said Pal allowed fraudsters to route illicit funds through his bank account in exchange for commission.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Shavya Goyal, the case was registered on September 1 under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and impersonation, along with Section 66D of the IT Act. The complainant was allegedly deceived after being promised high returns on investments through a fake online trading platform.
During the investigation, cyber police froze several suspicious bank accounts used to siphon off the defrauded money. Pal’s account was identified as one of the channels through which the funds were transferred, leading to his arrest.
Police said Pal revealed during interrogation that he was initially contacted by an unknown person on Facebook, who later shared a WhatsApp number. He was allegedly offered a commission to open a current account for facilitating financial transactions. Pal admitted receiving Rs50,000 to open a current account in the name of Pal Enterprises at the Bank of Baroda’s Kumarganj branch.
Following instructions from the gang, Pal reportedly travelled to Lucknow, where he stayed with the accused group at a hotel for nearly five to six days. Investigators found that around Rs7.30 lakh linked to the September fraud case and nearly Rs99 lakh connected to other cyber fraud complaints were routed through his account.
Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the cybercrime network.
