Anantapur Police Seize ₹41 Lakh From Five Cybercriminals

ANANTAPUR: In a major breakthrough, Anantapur police busted on Friday a five-member interstate cyber gang that lured people into investing in stock markets. They seized ₹41.20 lakh cash, 20 ATM cards, five bank passbooks, 10 cheque books and digital routers from the gang.

Anantapur SP P Jagadish told media that the gang comprising Bhavanesh Goel alias Syamji of Tilaknagar, West Delhi; Dharmendra Singh of Bysakur, B.B. Nagar in UP; S. Durgasai Prasad of S.R. Nagar, Hyderabad; and Kongathi Krishna and V. Phani Kumar of Chandarlapadu in NTR district had been operating fake apps from Cambodia and New Delhi as headquarters.

The cheating came to light after a software engineer Narasimhappa from Veparalla village in Rayadurg of Anantapur district invested ₹1.73 crore on the advice of the gang members. Narasimhappa initially invested ₹12 lakh in VIP66 Bajaj Investment and K26 Zerodha Market InSights following the tips given by the gang. He made a profit of ₹5.50 lakh within two days of investment. The gang allowed Narasimhappa to withdraw total money.

The cybercriminals then lured Narasimhappa into investing a total of ₹1,73,99,333 in a phased manner from April 15 to May 14. His account showed profits of ₹3.40 crore. When Narasimhappa failed to withdraw the amount, he contacted the gang, which made it clear that money can be withdrawn after an advanced tax and brokerage percentage of 40 per cent are paid.

The software engineer then realised that he is being cheated through fake investment accounts and approached Anantapur SP Jagadish, who formed separate teams under Kalyanadurgam DSP Ravi Babu to investigate the case.

Police then nabbed the five-member gang. They identified a private bank manager from AP as being behind the bang. Police have launched a hunt to arrest the bank manager.

SP Jagadish said investigations are on and advised investors not to invest through apps without gathering proper details and verifying them.