Delhi Police nabs 5 for investment fraud; victim lost over Rs 12L

Delhi Cyber Police's South-West District team arrested five men from Maharashtra for an investment fraud. The gang duped a man of over Rs 12 lakh by promising high returns on stock market investments through a fake company and mule accounts.

A team of Cyber Police Station, South-West District, has busted a gang involved in investment fraud with the arrest of five accused persons on Friday. The arrested accused have been identified as Shridhar Dilip Ingle (25), Archiryan Goraksh Kamble (21), Ajij Miran Shaikh (25), Pranav Jalinder Guldagad (24) and Vishal Durgadas Bachal (25).

Victim Duped of Over Rs 12 Lakh

On September 4, 2025, a complaint was lodged by N Rai on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) portal, wherein he reported that he is a resident of Arunachal Pradesh and presently residing in Delhi and alleged that he was induced to invest in the stock market through a purported company, namely Next Billion Technology Pvt Ltd. It was alleged that after opening an OTC account on July 7, 2025, the complainant was contacted by one Parineeti Jain and her associates through multiple mobile numbers, who induced him to invest funds on the pretext of high returns.

Additional DCP South West Vikas Meena said, "The complainant registered the complaint on September 4, 2025, stating that he was contacted by the cyber-fraudsters and scammers who assured him how he could get the maximum return on his investment. The complainant transferred Rs 12,22,670 to their bank accounts," he said.

Additional DCP Meena further said that when the complainant realised that this was a scam, he filed a complaint on the NCRP portal after which an FIR was registered. A dedicated team was formed under Sub-Inspector Somveer. The team was supervised by SHO Cyber and ACP Operations of the South West District. Acting upon such inducement, the complainant transferred a total amount of Rs 12,22,670. Subsequently, it was revealed that the said entity was fake and the complainant had been cheated. Accordingly, the present case vides e-FIR No. 24/2025, u/s 318(4)/340/112(2)/61(2) BNS was registered at PS Cyber, South-West District, and an investigation was taken up.

Investigation Leads to Maharashtra

During the course of the investigation, technical analysis, surveillance and scrutiny of financial transactions were carried out. The money trail and digital evidence led to the identification of the accused persons operating from Maharashtra.

"During the investigation, several leads and money trails were followed with the help of digital tools and techniques. One such lead took us to Srirampur, Maharashtra, with the information that our first accused was there. A raid was conducted, which led to the first arrest. The accused informed of his co-conspirators and modus operandi. We have arrested a total of five people. Six mobile phones and information about 35 mule accounts have been recovered from the accused," he said.

Arrests and Modus Operandi Revealed

One accused, Shridhar Dilip Ingle, was identified on the basis of technical surveillance. Based on technical inputs, a raid was conducted at Shrirampur, Maharashtra, and the accused Shridhar Dilip Ingle was apprehended.

During interrogation, he disclosed that he used to sell mule bank accounts on a commission basis to his associate Chaitanya, presently residing in Dubai. He further revealed that his accomplices Archiryan Goraksh Kamble, Ajij Miran Shaikh, Pranav Jalinder Guldagad and Vishal Durgadas Bachal assisted him in procuring mule bank accounts from different persons.

Thereafter, raids were conducted at multiple locations, leading to the arrest of the remaining co-accused persons namely Archiryan Goraksh Kamble, Ajij Miran Shaikh, Pranav Jalinder Guldagad, Vishal Durgadas Bachal.

During sustained interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they were engaged in procuring and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber fraud syndicates on a commission basis. The accused used to obtain bank accounts from various individuals and subsequently transfer/control the same for use in fraudulent transactions. These accounts were further provided to their associates, including one Chaitanya (based in Dubai), thereby facilitating large-scale cyber fraud.

Analysis of the bank accounts indicates fraudulent transactions amounting to several crores, affecting victims across multiple States/UTs. From their possession, 6 mobile phones used in the offence and details of 35 bank accounts used in the commission of crime have been recovered. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)