The Delhi Police has arrested three men, having connections with Pakistani nationals, for allegedly duping people under the garb of a 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' lottery. The trio was arrested from Bihar on Thursday. Police said that the trio used to lure people who were later on contacted by their handlers in Pakistan before being cheated.
Police said that the accused identified as Imtiaz Ali (20), a resident of Bihar's Siwan and Irfan Ali (20) and Santosh Kumar (22) of Gopalganj in the state were arrested on Thursday, in the course of an investigation based on a complaint filed by a resident of Delhi's Najafgarh area.
According to Anyesh Roy, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Cyber Crime (CYPAD), in her complaint, the woman said she received a Whatsapp call from a Pakistani number and was told that she had won Rs 25 lakh in 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' lottery.
"She was asked to call another Pakistani number via Whatsapp and talk to one Rana Pratap Singh who would give her the details of the prize money," said the DCP.
"The woman claimed that she was asked to deposit several lakh rupees towards GST and processing fees in several Indian bank accounts. Later, she was told that the lottery amount had been increased to Rs 45 lakh and then again to Rs 75 lakh and hence, more money had to be deposited. The accused duped her of around Rs 40-45 lakh in all," said the DCP.
"During investigation, police traced the location of the Pakistani nationals running the entire operation to Islamabad. Their associates were tracked down in Gopalganj, Bihar, and were later arrested on Thursday," said the DCP.
"During interrogation the accused said that they came to know about this scam in March 2019 as some of their friends were already associated with it. They got in touch with the mastermind behind the operation, Rauf, a resident of Islamabad in Pakistan, and started working for him," said the DCP.
"The accused operated several bank accounts. On receiving money, they would keep 25 to 30 per cent of the amount as commission and transfer the rest to Rauf through hawala channels," the DCP said.
"Earlier, on January 17, a man, identified as Pratap Barik, committed suicide near the Titlagarh railway station in Kalahandi district of Odisha. In a video, Barik had blamed Rana Pratap Singh for duping him of Rs 70,000 in the name of KBC lottery," said the DCP.
