Five of gang held for defrauding Surat businessman of Rs 2.30 cr

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As per the police, the accused contacted the complainant through an application called 'Dilsafar' from a profile named 'Jigyasha Kapoor'. (Photo/AI-generated)The Cyber Centre of Excellence, CID Crime, has arrested five members of a gang for allegedly defrauding a Surat-based businessman of Rs 2.30 crore after establishing contact with him through an application and then getting him to invest money by promising big returns.Investigation in the racket has revealed that the mule account used by the accused in the case is involved in 31 complaints of cyber fraud across the country, running into approximately Rs 15.31 crore.The five arrested accused have been identified as Raj Padsala from Anand and Ashok Yagnik, Laxman Vaghela, Jaydeep Ardesana and Sagar Gokani, all from Rajkot. Padsala holds the mule account in the name of his firm.Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Superintendent of Police Rajdeepsinh Jhala said that the busting of the racket is part of Gujarat Police’s Operation Mule Hunt 2.0.Also Read | Gujarat Hardlook: A Surat demolition & several unanswered questionsAs per the police, the accused contacted the complainant through an application called ‘Dilsafar’ from a profile named ‘Jigyasha Kapoor’. They got the complainant to open an account on a webpage going by the name ‘RoboForex’ by promising him big returns on trading by following their tips. Initially, they won his trust by showing a profit on an investment of Rs 50,000 and then tricked him into transferring a total of Rs 2.30 crore into various bank accounts and never returned the same.Jhala said that during the investigation, a bank account of Raj Padsala in the name of his firm, R P Chemicals, came to notice. After Padsala’s arrest, it was revealed that he had given his bank account kit to Yagnik Ramani on commission. Ramani provided the kit through other co-accused in the case to one Sarfaraz in Nepal to transfer the money of the complainant in the account of Padsala as part of the fraud.Police said that when they checked details of Padsala’s firm R P Chemical’s bank account on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), a total of 31 complaints of cyber fraud running into total Rs 15.31 crore were discovered.Story continues below this adFurther investigations are underway to nab the other accused in the gang. Jhala said that it is the first time that a Nepal connection has come up in mule account fraud.