Four cyber criminals, including the kingpin, were arrested in Varanasi on Friday for their involvement in digital fraud. The gang was found to have opened bank accounts using the identities of innocent people and later used these accounts to commit digital arrest and extortion crimes.
The arrested individuals were identified as Patelia Dishant Kiritbhai (32) and Deepak Dinesh Bhai Jogiya (32), both from Jamnagar, Gujarat, along with Satyam Mishra (19) from Varanasi and Nitin Pandey (22) from Bhadohi. The arrests were made based on a complaint filed by Vishal Singh, a resident of Harhua, Varanasi. Singh had reported that his identity was misused to open bank accounts under false pretenses, with promises of business investment. Singh alleged that substantial transactions were occurring in these accounts, which were eventually frozen by the police.
Following this, a FIR was registered under Section 318(4), 61(2) of BNS and 66C IT Act, and a thorough investigation was carried out by the police. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pramod Kumar, the suspects confessed during interrogation that they operated syndicates in multiple cities, luring victims into opening bank accounts with false promises of lucrative business deals. Once the accounts were activated, internet banking was enabled, and the criminals partnered with Dubai-based cyber criminals to commit extortion. The syndicate took a 30 percent cut from the money transferred into the accounts via extortion.
During the police operation, six android phones, 20 ATM cards, 10 SIM cards, and 14 passbooks were seized from the criminals. The investigation continues as law enforcement works to uncover more details of their operations.