Posing as telecom officer, Ludhiana man held for fraud

The Gurugram police have arrested a 22-year-old man in Ludhiana in a cyber fraud case.

The accused, Shiva, who went to Laos in March, would dupe Indians by posing as a fake officer of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), CBI and the police. The police have seized a passport and a mobile phone from his possession and are investigating the fraud network.

A local had filed a complaint on May 15, stating that he had received a call, wherein the caller introduced himself as an employee of the TRAI and said that his number was being used for illegal activities. He claimed that a case had been registered against him at the Colaba Police Station in Mumbai. Later, he made him talk to a fake police official.

“The fake police official mentioned my name in a money laundering case and said that a warrant had been issued. Then, he digitally arrested me. I transferred money as per the direction of the fake police official,” the complainant told the police.

An FIR was registered and a cybercrime team of the West police station arrested the accused in Ludhiana on August 27. He was taken on an eight-day police remand after being produced in a city court. The accused was identified as Shiva, alias Harsh, a native of new Vijay Nagar, Ludhiana in Punjab.

The accused revealed that out of the amount defrauded in the case, Rs 50,000 was transferred to the account of his brother who was arrested earlier.