Three persons, including a 64-year-old retired professor, have been arrested for allegedly cheating a senior citizen doctor of around Rs 1.50 crore over eight years by promising refunds on insurance policies, the Surat City Cyber Crime Cell said on Friday, IANS reported. Police said the accused were traced to Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh using a single mobile number that had since been switched off.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

According to police, the accused posed as representatives of the Insurance Ombudsman and persuaded the complainant to purchase around 15 insurance policies in 2018. The complainant was allegedly made to transfer money in small instalments of Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000, Rs 25,000 and other amounts. "Over the period from 2018 to 2026, he lost approximately Rs 1,50,33,004 (Rs 1.50 crore)," police said. The complainant approached the cybercrime police around two to three months ago, and a police team subsequently spent a week in Ghaziabad tracing the accused on the basis of the single calling number, which had become inactive.

Who was arrested, and what police say was seized

The arrested accused have been identified as Atulkumar Sharma (64), a retired professor who holds BSc and MBA degrees and had worked at IMT College; Mahesh Sharma (43), who has worked in vehicle loan arrangements, electricity meter reading and as a salesman for an Ayurvedic medicine company; and Sonu Thakur (32), a Class 12 pass-out who had previously worked as a telecaller at a call centre. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Bishakha Jain, Atulkumar allegedly arranged SIM cards and bank accounts by approaching financially needy people on the pretext of helping them obtain gas connections.

Police said they recovered nine mobile phones, 42 cheque books, 17 passbooks, 90 debit cards, 25 SIM cards, around 80 empty SIM card trays and Rs 28,740 in cash from Atulkumar; two mobile phones from Mahesh; and three mobile phones, Rs 1.77 lakh in cash and 70 printouts containing policyholder details from Sonu. A check of the accounts on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) revealed 73 complaints registered across 15 states, involving alleged online fraud of approximately Rs 33.10 lakh, police said.

Source: Nation Press

The case has been registered under Sections 319(2), 318(4), 336(2), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, police said. The allegations are yet to be tested in court.