The Tribune Exclusive: How failed bizman, ex-banker ganged up to dupe Oswal of Rs 7 crore
They were first-timers, not hardened or experienced criminals, but duped none else than Vardhman Group CMD SP Oswal of Rs 7 crore in one of the country’s biggest cyber frauds reported so far, Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal said.
Investigations revealed how the Padma Bhushan awardee and country’s leading textile manufacturer was put under “digital arrest” for 24 hours and Rs 7 crore extorted from him.
Business tycoon fell into callers’ trap
Aug 27: Vardhman Group CMD SP Oswal receives a voice call on his mobile phone from a caller posing as a TRAI official; also receives a WhatsApp call from another caller posing as a CBI officer from Mumbai
Aug 28: Falls into their trap after receiving 25 to 30 calls, starts transferring money to the callers’ accounts
Aug 29: Pays ~7 crore to the callers in five instalments
Aug 30: Realises he has been cheated, approaches police
Sept 17: Police crack the case with the arrest two accused, recover ~5.25 cr
Chahal disclosed that one of the two arrested suspects, Atanu Choudhury, was a failed businessman who took to crime to make up for his financial losses. His accomplice Anand Choudhury was a worker in a pharmacy store. “One of the masterminds was Rumi Kalita, a former bank employee,” he said.
Preliminary investigations found no previous criminal background of any of the nine accused in the multi-million cyber fraud.
The Ludhiana police cracked the case within 18 days with the arrest of the two main accused and recovery of Rs 5.25 crore. DGP Gaurav Yadav has awarded the DG’s commendation disc to the cybercrime team of the Ludhiana police for busting the inter-state cyber fraud gang with a record recovery.
“The Ludhiana police arrested the two main accused from Guwahati with the help of the Assam Police and recovered Rs 5.25 crore along with a bunch of ATM cards and mobile phones,” Yadav said. Confirming that it was the largest recovery in India as per official records, the DGP said it was a big achievement in the fight against cybercrime.
Sharing details, Chahal told The Tribune here on Tuesday that on August 27, Oswal first received a voice call from a mobile number. The caller introduced himself as a TRAI officer, threatening to disconnect his mobile connection.
The caller further instructed the octogenarian business tycoon to press ‘9’ in order to continue the services but the call got disconnected. “After some time, I received a WhatsApp call from another number and the caller posed himself as a CBI officer from the Mumbai office,” Oswal told the police. The caller told the Vardhman Group owner that he had opened a fake bank account in Canara Bank and a case had been registered against him in the CBI. “Now, your case is being transferred to the ED,” Oswal was further threatened, while being put under “digital arrest” through a Skype video call for an initial 24 hours. “Almost 25 to 30 calls were exchanged between the criminals and Oswal with each call duration ranging between 19 seconds and 45 minutes in three days,” the investigations revealed. Interacting in a Hindi dialect, the callers did not demand any specific amount but kept demanding cash for three days continuously to settle the case. Chahal, who supervised the investigations, said on August 28, the textile industry magnate fell into the trap and transferred initial funds to the bank accounts of the callers. Oswal paid Rs 7 crore to two different accounts provided by the fake CBI officers in five separate instalments on August 28 and 29. On August 30 evening, Oswal realised that he was cheated and approached the cybercrime police station in Ludhiana.
“We immediately launched a probe and cracked the case in 18 days with the help of our Assam counterparts,” Chahal said. He said Atanu Choudhary and Anand Choudhury, both from Guwahati, had been arrested while seven other gang members, including two women, had been named in the case. Those still wanted include former banker Rumi Kalita, Nimmi Bhattacharjee, Rintu, Sanjay Sutradhar and Zakir from Assam, and Alok Rangi and Gulam Mortuza from West Bengal.
