The Crime Branch police of Chittoor on Thursday arrested four youth belonging of Chirala of Praskasam district on charges of online fraud, allegedly luring and targeting gullible customers into betting app, and reportedly cheating them of huge amounts.
Cirlce-Inspector (Crime branch) K. Ramesh told the media that at the height of COVID pandemic last year, Bobbili Navakishore of Tadikonda of Guntur district, studying medicine at a university in the Philippines, reportedly befriended some potential clientele through social media platforms.
Later, he formed a network with Chirala youth identified as Shiva Kesav, (who is also pursuing a pilot training course in the Philippines), Krishna Chaitanya, Bachu Kiran and Siva Prasad. The four had reportedly opened several bank accounts on the names of their relatives in some private banks to facilitate online transfer of amounts by the gullible clientele to these accounts.
Navakishore was also provided with new SIM cards used for opening bank accounts by the four-member gang to help him make transactions with access to OTPs.
Ironically, the crime police received complaints from three young women, all software professionals currently working from home, located in various places of Chittoor district. “At first, the accused used to lure them with small amounts and allowing them to withdraw immediately on the betting. After convincing them to bet larger amounts, the withdrawal facility was blocked, which ran into several lakhs of rupees. In the name of allowing them withdrawal facility, the network members allegedly collected more money from them online,” the police officer said.
The crime branch had been investigating the complaints since six months pertaining to this case. With the help of technology, Shiva Kesav, who is currently in India, was nabbed, and the arrest of three others followed in gap of 24 hours.
“The three women software professionals of Chittoor district alone had lost about ₹5 lakh. We have issued a lookout notice for Navakishore. We are investigating whether the betting fraud had extended to other States also,” Mr Ramesh said. The accused were sent for remand.
