Cyber fraud: Two more accused held

Lucknow: Lucknow police on Monday arrested two more accused, Manoj Yadav (21) and Jitendra Yadav alias Jeetu (23), both from Sikar in Rajasthan, for allegedly duping a couple of Rs 90 lakh by impersonating as Anti-Terrorism Squad officials, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five. On Feb 17, police had arrested three other accused, Mayank Srivastava, Irshad, and Manish.

During interrogation, the two initially claimed innocence, stating they were lured and coerced into joining the racket. However, sustained questioning revealed their involvement in handling bank accounts and financial transactions under the direction of a handler allegedly based in Jaipur. The fraud began on Jan 26, when complainant Veena Bajpai received a call from a man, Ranjeet Kumar, identifying himself as an ATS inspector posted at the headquarters. He threatened to implicate the couple in serious offences such as terrorism and money laundering if they failed to comply.


The accused forced the victims to download the Signal messaging app for further communication. On the app, another accused, posing as an ATS officer shared forged Supreme Court orders and fake seizure documents to establish credibility. He pressured the victims to transfer money for "account verification" and avoiding arrest. The couple, out of fear, transferred nearly Rs 90 lakh into multiple bank accounts. . tnn