The chairman and managing director of the Varahman Group, SP Oswal, was tricked by cybercriminals who pretended to be Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers, threatened to “digitally arrest” him by sharing a forged Supreme Court arrest warrant, and forced him to transfer Rs. 7 crores into two separate bank accounts in order to help him obtain bail. In 2010, Oswal was awarded the third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, for his services to the fields of trade and industry.
Two of the accused from Guwahati, Assam, were taken into custody by the Cyber Crime Police Station of the Ludhiana Commission on Saturday; the remaining five accused are still at large. Additionally, the city police were able to obtain Rs 5.25 crores from the defendants. Atnu Chaudhary and Anand Kumar Chaudhary, both of Guwahati, Assam, are the defendants who have been detained. Nimmi Bhattacharya of Guwahati, Alok Rangi of West Bengal, Gulam Mortaza of West Bengal, Sanjay Sutradhar of Hazarapar, Rintu of Nalbari, Rumi Kalita of Guwahati, and Zakir are the accused who have absconded.
According to Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO of the Cyber Crime Police Station, SP Oswal received a call from an unidentified individual posing as a Mumbai-based CBI officer. The forger informed Oswal that the CBI had found 58 fictitious passports, 16 debit cards, and other items in a package that was meant to be shipped to Malaysia. Additionally, he added that Oswal’s Aadhar Card was used to mail the package, and as a result, the Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for him and the CBI opened a case against him.
The accused also recorded a video call to SP Oswal, appearing to be sitting in an office with the massive CBI logo in the background, in an attempt to persuade Oswal. Additionally, he received a fake arrest warrant via WhatsApp from the imposter. After persuading Oswal that he was actually a CBI officer who had filed a formal complaint against him, the accused defrauded Oswal of his money by claiming to be willing to assist him.
Inspector stated that the accused informed SP Oswal that he knows he is a well-known industrialist whose ID has to be used fraudulently in order to ship the package overseas.
The imposter promised Oswal assistance, stating that they would only arrest him online and would not travel to Ludhiana to avoid embarrassing him. In addition, he offered to set him up with a Mumbai attorney who might secure bail on his behalf. The accused forced the victim to transfer Rs. 7 crores into two separate bank accounts after the victim gave his consent, claiming that the money would be returned if the accused was found not guilty. After the victim sent the money, he spoke with his manager about the situation, who became suspicious and called the police.
The official stated that two suspects who set up bank accounts to receive the money from the fraud had already been taken into custody. The inquiry is underway to track the rest of the accused.
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