A cyber fraud investigation in Telangana has led police to an alleged interstate gang accused of using a fake fertiliser franchise website to target victims across India. Jainath police in Adilabad district arrested 5 members of the Bihar based gang on Friday.
Adilabad Superintendent of Police Akhil Mahajan said the arrests followed a detailed investigation into a cybercrime case registered at Jainath police station.
The arrested accused were identified as Abhishek Kumar alias Sourav, Abinash Kumar and Ritesh Kumar, all aged 24, along with Ashutosh Kumar alias Bablu, 33, and Nishu Kumar, 25. All 5 are natives of Bihar.
Police seized 10 mobile phones and ₹70,000 in cash from the accused.
According to the SP, around 498 cybercrime complaints have been reported against the accused across the country. They are suspected of cheating victims of around ₹3.5 crore. Telangana alone has reported about 90 complaints against them.
The accused allegedly created a fake website offering franchises of a fertiliser company. Applicants were asked to submit sensitive details, including Aadhaar and PAN information, photographs and bank account details.
Police allege that the gang then collected money from victims in multiple instalments. The payments were reportedly demanded under the pretext of service charges, licence fees and trade transfer fees.
The arrests followed the investigation into the alleged cyber fraud network operating across multiple states.
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