The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested Neelam Aggarwal and her son Vansh Aggarwal from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a major cyber fraud case. The duo allegedly duped a Bhubaneswar resident of Rs1.38 crore earlier this year in May.
The incident came to light when a senior citizen from Bhubaneswar approached the cyber police on May 22. He reported receiving calls from individuals claiming to be representatives of FedEx courier and Mumbai Cyber Crime. These callers told the victim that his Aadhaar details had been involved in a money laundering case and threatened him with arrest. They assured him that he could settle the case by transferring his money to a bank account for identity verification purposes.
Under pressure, the victim transferred a total of Rs1.38 crore between May 14-18 to various accounts of the fraudsters. After realizing he had been scammed, he lodged a complaint, leading to a case being registered under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act.
Further investigation revealed that a large portion of the money, Rs1.12 crore, was deposited into accounts linked to Vansheel Software Private Limited in Ghaziabad, which was owned by Neelam and Vansh Aggarwal.
The Crime Branch team, led by Inspector Anila Anand, tracked down the mother-son duo to Ghaziabad and arrested them on December 27. They were brought to Odisha on transit remand.
The arrested individuals had created 13 bank accounts across PNB and SBI branches in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, to siphon off the defrauded amount. The duo had previously been arrested in New Delhi by Mandir Marg Cyber Crime Police for a similar case involving a Rs63 lakh scam.
