In a major breakthrough, the Udupi CEN police arrested a 30-year-old man from Ganjam district, Odisha, in connection with an alleged online investment scam that defrauded a 64-year-old resident of Udupi. The accused, identified as Vishal Konapal, was arrested after a complaint was filed by the victim’s family, who reported the illegal transactions.
According to the complaint lodged by Jaya Shetty, a resident of Belman in Karkala taluk, her son, Prashant Shetty, who works abroad, has two bank accounts with Union Bank of India at the Belman branch. Both accounts were linked to the Paytm payment system.
Between February 10 and 20, a total of Rs1,56,100 was illegally withdrawn from Prashant’s two accounts. The money was transferred without his knowledge, and the transactions were carried out by unknown individuals. Upon discovering the unauthorized withdrawals, Jaya Shetty reported the incident to the police, leading to an investigation into the fraudulent activities.
After receiving the complaint, the Udupi police began their investigation into the suspicious withdrawals. Using digital forensics and tracing the transactions, they identified Vishal Konapal as the prime suspect. Konapal was arrested for his involvement in the online scam, which targeted the Shetty family’s bank accounts. The investigation revealed that Konapal had used an online payment system to illegally withdraw the funds.
The police are continuing their investigation to uncover any further links to larger fraudulent operations or accomplices involved in the scam.