Noida cops nab two suspects for bank fraud from Varanasi

Noida: The cyber cell of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in Noida nabbed two suspects from Varanasi on Thursday for allegedly duping several people on the pretext of updating ‘know your customer’ (KYC) details of their bank accounts. They were arrested in relation to a case registered at the cyber cell police station in Sector 36 in March this year, police said on Friday.

According to Reeta Yadav, in charge of Sector 36 police station, a senior citizen identified as Asha Kaul had submitted a complaint stating that she was duped of ₹6.25 lakh by unidentified suspects posing as bank executives.

“In her complaint, the Noida resident has stated that on February 15, she received a text message from an unknown number stating that her bank KYC needs to be updated. A telephone number was also given in the text message. Believing it to be true, she dialled on the number and spoke to a person who posed as a bank executive,” said Yadav.

The complainant was further asked to pay ₹10 to get the KYC updated. “She followed the instructions given by the caller and made the payment through a URL shared by him. In no time, ₹6.25 lakh was withdrawn from her bank account. The elderly woman realised that she had been duped after which she approached the police and filed a complaint,” said Yadav.

After preliminary investigation, an FIR was registered at the cyber cell police station in Sector 36 under Section 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (forgery) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said.

“With the help of surveillance and intelligence input, the two suspects were nabbed from Varanasi on Thursday. They have been identified as Ankit Kumar (26), a BTech graduate and Suraj Singh (25), who has a diploma from Industrial Training Institute (ITI). Both are Varanasi residents,” said Yadav.

After initial interrogation, it was revealed that the two suspects were hired by the infamous Jamtara gang, known for cyber frauds.

“The suspects are believed to have duped over 150 people in the last one year and further investigations are underway,” said Yadav. She added that both were produced before a magistrate and sent to jail.