Two employees of Paytm Payment Bank have been arrested for fraudulently accessing and releasing nearly Rs 30 lakh from accounts frozen by law enforcement during cyber scam investigations.
The complaint was filed by Paytm on August 30, 2024, alleging that some employees were defreezing accounts without authorization from police or courts. A police probe revealed that Chandresh Rathore from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, and Tariq Anwar from Mau, Uttar Pradesh, both customer executives, illegally released Rs 29.9 lakh by defreezing these accounts. They were arrested on Tuesday, confirmed Additional DCP (Cyber) Shavya Goyal.
Investigations indicate the duo acted under instructions from an intermediary who liaised with owners of frozen accounts—many suspected in various cyber frauds. These account holders paid the accused to lift restrictions and access funds.
ACP (Cyber) Vivek Ranjan Rai said, “The accused have aided cybercriminals for several years before being caught.” The arrests were made under applicable BNS sections.
Authorities suspect more employees may be involved, with leads pointing to a “kingpin” from Paytm’s Hyderabad team, currently being tracked by police. The arrested had customer access privileges to frozen accounts, enabling the scam.
Both men were presented before a local court on Tuesday as the investigation continues.
