The city police busted a cyber fraud racket on Friday, arresting three youths from Jamtara district, Jharkhand, who allegedly duped customers trying to make online restaurant table bookings.
The accused—Rahim Ansari (31), Nasrul Ansari (30), and Md. Azharuddin (30)—were apprehended from their homes following coordinated raids conducted by the Cyber Police Station. They were presented before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jamtara, which granted one-day transit remand.
Joint Commissioner (Crime) Murlidhar Sharma said the scam came to light on November 16, when a complaint was filed by Debasish Ghosh, an official of Speciality Restaurants Limited. Unknown fraudsters had added a mobile number to the restaurant’s Google advertisement for table bookings.
Customers contacting this number were asked to pay Rs 10 via a provided link, which redirected payments into a fake Paytm UPI account. In this way, the accused illegally collected large sums, causing significant financial loss to the company.
The case was registered under the Information Technology Act (Sections 66C/66D) and relevant sections of the IPC (120B, 420, 467, 468, 469, 471) for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery.
During the investigation, police analyzed call data records of the mobile numbers and discovered they were based in Jamtara, Jharkhand, and Jamuria, West Bengal, including surrounding areas. Examination of the Paytm account revealed that the maximum amount was transferred into a State Bank of India account at Kuruwa branch in Jamtara, held by Rahim Ansari.
Following verification of documents and account records, police conducted the raids, seizing five mobile phones, SIM cards, bank account passbooks, cheque books, PAN cards, and Aadhaar cards.
Authorities continue to investigate to trace any further accomplices and recover defrauded funds.
