3 Nepali nationals running Rs. 86L investment scam arrested at Secunderabad

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda cyber crime police on Friday arrested three Nepali nationals involved in a Rs. 86 lakh investment fraud.

The three have been identified as Gopal Sherpa (24), Sushil Gurung (29), and NimaTamang (24) of Kathmandu, Nepal.

The police seized 53 mobile phones, 215 SIM cards, Rs. 1 lakh cash, eight checkbooks, and 12 ATM cards. The cops have also frozen bank accounts worth Rs. 10 lakhs.

On 22 October, Bhanothu Kiran Kumar of Ghatkesar filed a complaint stating that in September he was lured by cyber fraudsters to invest Rs. 86 lakhs by promising huge returns. He transferred the amount to different bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. Later when he could not withdraw his investment, he realized that he had been cheated. Based on his complaint, a case was registered at the Rachakonda cyber crime police station.

The cyber crime team analyzed the bank accounts and CDRs of the suspected fraudsters and zeroed in on the gang operating from Siliguri, West Bengal. On 3 November, a special team arrested three accused - Noor Alam, Ekram Hussain, and Md. Izarul from Siliguri. They are the accomplices of kingpin Deepu Mandal who is at large. The cops seized mobile phones and other incriminating material from their possession and froze Rs. 15 lakhs in their bank accounts.

While the police were trying to track down the prime accused Deepu Mandal, they received information that three members of the gang had arrived in Hyderabad to float a call centre to carry out fraudulent activities at the behest of Mandal.

The cyber crimes team arrested the three persons at Secunderabad railway station on 23 December.

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The three Nepali nationals were running a call centre under the direction of Deepu Mandal. They used to provide OTPs and transfer money to various fictitious bank accounts for which they were paid Rs. 15,000 per month. Mandal had created fake Indian Aadhar cards for the three Nepali nationals and they used them to procure SIM cards and open bank accounts.

An analysis of the Telegram messages of the accused revealed that the proceeds from the crimes were siphoned to China through cryptocurrency exchanges. An in-depth investigation is being carried out to apprehend the absconding Deepu Mandal and his other accomplices.