Kasaragod police have arrested 24-year-old Sunil Kumar Jhanwar from Jodhpur for his role in a cyber fraud case that duped a doctor of Rs 2.23 crore. Jhanwar, who worked as a food delivery and bike taxi driver, was arrested after being tracked by a four-member police team for eight days. The police successfully captured him just 45 minutes before his scheduled train departure at Mathura Das Mathur Hospital in Jodhpur, where he had been attending to his ailing father.
The scam targeted a 42-year-old doctor from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, who was lured into a cyber fraud scheme offering part-time online jobs through Telegram. The scammers initially made small payments to build trust and then coaxed the doctor into making large investments for “premium” job offers. Unbeknownst to the doctor, the Telegram group he was added to contained fake profiles controlled by the fraudsters.
Between May 17 and June 4, the doctor transferred Rs 2.23 crore to 18 different accounts across several states, including Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi. In a bid to maintain trust, the fraudsters even returned a small sum of Rs 87,125.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Jhanwar received Rs 18 lakh in his bank account, which he withdrew using three cheques from his Axis Bank account in Jodhpur. By the time of his arrest, his account contained no remaining funds.
The fraud network had multiple individuals involved, with Muhammed Noushad A T (45) from Payyannur and Harshavardhan R (21) from Kochi already in custody. Noushad, a serial cybercriminal, managed several bank accounts used to launder the stolen money and recruited individuals to open accounts for commissions. Harshavardhan, one of these recruits, opened 10 bank accounts used to route Rs 40 lakh of the scammed funds.
The Kerala High Court granted anticipatory bail to Harshavardhan on January 27, while Noushad was arrested on February 13. Meanwhile, the police recovered Rs 10.79 lakh from a UCO Bank account in Delhi, which was returned to the victim through court proceedings.
The Kasaragod police are now intensifying their investigation into the money trail, aiming to recover the remaining Rs 2.23 crore. They plan to seek the custody of Sunil Kumar Jhanwar to uncover further details of the fraud network and its masterminds.
