A 27-year-old man, Navneet Kumar Bharti, was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Monday for his involvement in a cyber fraud case in which a Gurugram woman was duped of Rs78 lakh. Police revealed that Bharti, fluent in Mandarin, had been operating a cyber fraud syndicate on behalf of a Chinese national for the past three years.
Bharti, originally from Aurangabad, Bihar, was arrested on August 27, 2023, after security personnel detained him while he was attempting to board a flight to Thailand. A lookout circular had been issued for Bharti, leading to his detention. Following his arrest, Bharti was brought to Gurugram and placed on a six-day police remand for further questioning.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cybercrime), Siddhant Jain, Bharti’s mobile phone chats on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram indicated his regular contact with a Chinese national who was overseeing the fraudulent operations in India. Bharti had also been in communication with an Indian accomplice based in Thailand, who had instructed him to travel there to assist in expanding the gang’s operations.
Police confiscated three mobile phones, two SIM cards, and ₹30,000 in cash from Bharti’s possession. The phones will undergo forensic analysis to uncover further evidence, including deleted data. Bharti had previously studied Mandarin at the Central University of Sikkim and later pursued a master’s degree at the Beijing Language and Culture University, where he befriended the Chinese suspect who eventually recruited him for the criminal activities.
After returning to India in 2021, Bharti resumed his operations for the Chinese national, helping to establish a network for cyber fraud and providing at least six bank accounts used in scamming victims across India. His operations continued despite a previous arrest in Delhi, where he was involved in another cyber fraud case that resulted in a Rs4.35 crore loss to victims.
One of the victims was a 55-year-old housewife from Gurugram, who was scammed out of Rs78 lakh in a task-based fraud. The fraud was reported on October 14, 2022, leading to an FIR being registered at the Cybercrime Police Station in Manesar. Police managed to freeze some of the stolen funds and reverse part of the amount back to the victim.
The investigation led to the arrest of four other gang members, though Bharti remained on the run until his recent capture. The police are continuing their search for at least two more suspects involved in the scam. Bharti’s prior arrest history includes being caught by the Government Railway Police at Kanpur Central in 2022, though he escaped custody, leading to additional charges.
Interestingly, after returning to India, Bharti even worked at a multinational e-commerce firm in Chennai, all while continuing his fraudulent activities. The authorities are now working to uncover the full extent of the syndicate’s operations and trace the foreign national’s whereabouts.