Cyberfraud: Two held from Hyd

Kochi: In a coordinated operation conducted at multiple locations, Kochi city police apprehended key accused involved in cyber trading fraud cases targeting people nationwide.The arrests were made following operations in Medchal-Malkajgiri and Hyderabad districts of Telangana over the past few days. After 10 days of parallel cyber operations in multiple cases, Kochi city cybercrime police arrested two key accused in Hyderabad. In connection with a digital arrest case, Niranjan Chaudhary, 40, was arrested from GD Metla area in Hyderabad, and Syed Hasan Ali, 39, was arrested from Subsa Colony in a Telegram trading cyberfraud case. Police investigation revealed that Chaudhary, owner of Shanthan Arts and Printers operating in Hyderabad, extorted approximately Rs 3 crore from a 77-year-old in Ernakulam under the threat of ‘digital arrest' and transferred the money to cyberfraud groups based in Cambodia after withdrawing it through various bank accounts. In another case involving the loss of Rs 38 lakh from a doctor in Ernakulam, further investigation revealed that accused Ali used his bank accounts under the guise of business purposes to transfer crores in Telegram trading cyberfraud cases, leading to his arrest. There are currently 31 cyber complaints against Ali across the country, and Rs 2.71 crore has been frozen in his bank account from complaints in various stations nationwide. The investigation team suspects his connection with a Dubai-based cyberfraud network. An official statement said the police team faced extremely dangerous situations while apprehending the suspects.