Bareilly: This nondescript village near Bareilly city became infamous overnight when police in July 2020 busted a gang of 19 cyber criminals who had siphoned off nearly Rs 300 crore over a period of 3-5 years by convincing people into sharing their bank details. All the accused from Dhantia village used to lure their victims with tempting offers over phone, said police, adding that the gang had links with African scamsters, and is also wanted in cases registered in other states. These men are involved in cyber fraud of over Rs 300 crore in the past five years, claimed a member of the team investigating the case.
The cases first came to light in July 2020 when a few men from the village were picked up. A total of 19 accused have been named in the matter, said Bareilly SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan, adding that 18 of them were arrested and sent to jail.
Since it took more than 90 days to file a chargesheet, the accused managed to secure bail and are absconding.
“We had initially arrested 14 people and recovered 90 mobile phones, 77 sim cards, 127 ATM cards, 140 bank passbooks, cheque books, five luxury cars and a motorcycle. They had siphoned off money from bank accounts of scores of people — most of their victims were from Jharkhand. We have registered an FIR against 18 people, including gang leader Jamshed Khan, at Izzatnagar police station under various IPC sections of cheating, along with section 67 of the IT Act on July 23. All 18 accused were sent to jail. A chargesheet…
