Pramesh S Jain
The Central Division Cyber Crime Police have busted a fake stock market investment call centre operating in Jayanagar and arrested two accused in connection with cheating members of the public by promising high returns on stock market investments.
The case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station,Central Division,under Sections 66(r) of the Information Technology Act and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The arrested accused have been identified as Kumawat Yogesh Amararam,resident of 8th Block,Jayanagar, Bengaluru native of surat,and Imran,resident of BTM 2nd Stage,Bengaluru and native of Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi.
Senior officer told reporters that the accused had set up a fake call centre under the name M/s Multiwave Business Solutions Private Limited at Anjanadri Avenue, 26th Main Road, 9th Block, Jayanagar.
They had hired around 15 customer care executives from outside the state who operated from the premises.
The executives allegedly called members of the public, luring them with promises of lucrative profits through stock market investments.
Victims were persuaded to transfer money online to bank accounts provided by the accused under the pretext of investment.
After receiving the funds, the accused would switch off their mobile phones and become unreachable.
During investigation,police traced the location of the call received by the complainant to BTM Layout.The IMEI number of the mobile phone used in the offence was identified,and the Google email ID linked to the device was traced to Kumawat Yogesh Amararam.
Based on mobile location analysis,police zeroed in on the fake call centre in Jayanagar and conducted a raid, leading to the arrest of the accused.
Police seized 31 mobile phones,13 laptops,16 SIM cards, Letterheads of M/s Multiwave Business Solutions Private Limited,Sheets containing names and mobile numbers of victims from the premises .
During interrogation,the accused reportedly confessed to procuring stock market client data through online sources,arranging bank accounts from other states,and obtaining SIM cards in the names slum dwellers.
The cheated money was allegedly routed through multiple mule accounts and withdrawn through ATMs by associates before being shared among the accused.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Pronab Mohanty,Director General of Police,Cyber Command Unit; M.Chandrashekar,Additional Director General of Police,Cyber Command Unit;and H.D.Anand Kumar,Deputy Inspector General of Police,Cyber Command Unit.
The team was led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Manoj Kumar M.E.and Inspector S.Vasimulla,along with PSI Vinod R.Naik and other staff members, who successfully traced and apprehended the accused.
Further investigation is underway to identify additional victims and trace the flow of funds.
