2 more held in Rs 2.4 crore cyber scam

Noida: Police have arrested two men on Thursday for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 2.4 crore under the pretext of ‘digital arrest' earlier this year. The accused's bank accounts, found to be linked with several other such cases, have been frozen.Police had previously arrested Pushpendra, a Mathura native, in the case on May 6. Investigation had revealed that Pushpendra was part of a gang of cyber criminals that claimed to put their victims in ‘digital arrest' by impersonating police and CBI personnel, and would demand large sums of money from them. Around Rs 6.7 lakh from the defrauded amount was recovered from the accused and the refund process was initiated as well.On Thursday, cops arrested Mukesh Saxena (50) and Anees Ahmed (39), residents of Moradabad, based on local intelligence and confidential information."The gang posed as police officers and threatened the plaintiff on the pretext of a human trafficking case. They placed the plaintiff under ‘digital arrest' and committed fraud of Rs 2.4 crore," said DCP (Cyber) Preeti Yadav.An amount of Rs 2 crore was found in Saxena's bank account, of which Rs 18 lakh was from the amount they had taken from the complainant while the rest was found to be linked to at least 18 complaints on the NCRP from different states. Meanwhile, Rs 12 crore was found in Ahmed's bank account, linked to 15 complaints on NCRP. Necessary legal action is underway, cops said.An FIR has been registered against the accused under BNS sections 308(2) (extortion), 319(2) (cheating by personation), and 318(4) (cheating) and section 66D of the IT Act. Further investigation is underway to trace the gang's associates, police added.