In a significant development, Irfan Ahmed Gannawala, a 24-year-old resident of Dharwad, Karnataka, has been arrested for his involvement in a Rs1.88 crore stock market fraud linked to Dubai-based scammers. Gannawala is accused of facilitating access to Indian bank accounts for these scammers and reportedly received Rs1.20 lakh for each account he provided.
Alongside Gannawala, his associate Manjunath Olekar (27) has also been apprehended, marking a pivotal moment in the North Cyber Cell’s investigation. So far, a total of four individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.
The investigation has revealed that Gannawala and Olekar are part of a larger network. The Cyber Cell previously arrested Saurabh Sanghani (29) and Gunjan Bhaisania (36) from Gujarat, who had a business relationship where Sanghani supplied chemicals to Bhaisania for his cosmetics venture. The two are believed to have passed account details through a chain leading back to Gannawala, who provided the information to the primary beneficiary operating from Dubai.
Authorities have noted a growing trend of scammers operating from locations like Dubai, making Gannawala’s arrest crucial in establishing a clearer connection within this fraudulent network. Investigators are now looking into Gannawala’s links in Dubai and plan to cooperate with relevant authorities as needed.
The Cyber Cell reported that Gannawala had provided details for multiple accounts to the scammers, one of which was directly used in this fraud case. While the other three suspects received between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 for facilitating the accounts, Gannawala’s compensation was significantly higher.
Gannawala, who previously worked in his family’s vegetable business, became entangled with the scammers and made several trips to Bahrain to assist in providing account information. Reports indicate that Rs66.77 lakh was deposited into the account involved in the scam, with 33 complaints regarding cyber fraud linked to this account across India.
The case began when a 71-year-old retired professor reported being defrauded while attempting to invest in the stock market. The victim was lured into a WhatsApp group called ‘ICICI Securities VIP’ by someone posing as Rajiv Ambani, claiming to be a CIO. After being manipulated by the group’s purported success stories, the victim invested Rs1.88 crore through a fraudulent Demat account named ‘EICICRE’. Initially shown a balance of Rs20.5 crore, the victim soon realized he had been scammed when he was unable to withdraw his funds.
The North Cyber Cell has been investigating this case for two to three months and is working diligently to establish more links to apprehend other individuals involved in this extensive scam operation.