Police Get Custody Of Cyber Crime Racket Mastermind Lodged In Delhi Jail

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police have got the custody of one of the alleged masterminds behind a nationwide cyber crime racket.

Yogesh Dua (36), arrested in New Delhi, was brought to Kolkata on Friday. This takes the number of arrests in this case to 12.

In June 2024, a resident of Golf Green in south Kolkata lodged a police complaint, alleging that she had received calls threatening her of arrest for sending a parcel with narcotics and being involved in money laundering. She apparently got scared and paid Rs 47 lakh to various bank accounts to get her name cleared.

“We followed a money trail of Rs 7,40,000 that the complainant had deposited into an account of Jana Small Finance Bank. In September, exhaustive raids were conducted in the Anandapur, Patuli and Narendrapur areas and eight persons were arrested. A make-shift office dealing in mule accounts was also busted. During the raids, we seized 104 passbooks/cheque books, 61 mobile phones, 33 debit cards, 2 QR code machines, 140 SIM cards , 40 seals, and 10 lease agreements. The office, which was under CCTV coverage, was used to collect account details, change their mail IDs, passwords and other credentials, before selling them across the country to fraudsters,” a senior police officer said.

Mule accounts are bank accounts used by cyber crooks to get their victims to deposit money. As soon as money is deposited, it is withdrawn by the criminals.

During the raids, the name of one Chirag Kapoor surfaced. He was arrested from Bengaluru on January 9 this year. One of his associates Onkar Singh, arrested from New Delhi, revealed that the team operated under instructions from two brothers – namely Aditya Dua and Yogesh Dua. Non-bailable warrants were issued and Yogesh Dua, a resident of Vivek Vihar in New Delhi, was arrested.

The Kolkata Police sought his transit remand but the court granted bail to Dua. However, he was sent to jail as he couldn’t provide surety. The Kolkata Police moved Delhi High Court against this order. The high court granted transit remand and the Kolkata Police got physical custody on Friday.

During the raid on his house, the police seized two mobile phones, two computer hardware disks, a laptop, eight cheque books, eight ATM cards, Rs 1,86,890, Dirham 4,000, Yen 1,000, US$ 100, several Aadhaar cards and other documents