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Bengaluru/Siddapura: In a significant breakthrough, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) cyber wing sleuths have apprehended a gang of five criminals in connection with a sophisticated extortion scheme. The accused, operating from both Bengaluru and Dubai, allegedly swindled a staggering ₹2.2 crore from a 75-year-old estate owner from Kodagu, also known as Coorg. The police have managed to recover ₹1.7 crore in cash, along with foreign currency and a high-end luxury car.
The victim, a septuagenarian estate owner hailing from Siddapura in Kodagu, preferred to remain anonymous. He filed a complaint stating that he had received a call from an individual posing as an employee of FedEx. The caller falsely accused him of smuggling 200 grams of MDMA, a banned narcotic substance. The scammer then escalated the situation by transferring the call to accomplices who pretended to be police officers, further intensifying the pressure on the unsuspecting victim, according to a report in TNIE.
Under the guise of resolving the fabricated legal issue, the fraudsters coerced the elderly man into transferring large sums of money to various bank accounts. Between May 11 and May 28, 2024, the victim transferred a total of ₹2.21 crore through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) in two separate transactions. However, when the criminals persistently demanded additional funds, the victim became suspicious and reported the matter to the police.
The initial case was registered with the Kodagu Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police, but it was later handed over to the CID in Bengaluru for a more in-depth investigation. The probe revealed that the money had been funneled through approximately 26 bank accounts spread across various states in North India and Dubai. The CID has successfully frozen these accounts, securing the transferred funds.
The five arrested individuals have been identified as Mohammed Shakib, Mohammed Ayaan, Ahasaan Hansari, and Saloman Raja, all from Bengaluru, and Yusuf Set, based in Dubai. Authorities believe that these individuals are part of a larger, highly organized criminal syndicate. Given the use of Indian bank accounts in the scam, CID officials were able to trace the suspects more easily.
This case underscores the growing sophistication of cybercrime and the importance of vigilance among potential victims especially in Kodagu where there are many large estate owners and senior citizens. The CID continues to investigate the broader network behind this scam, said CID officials.
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