Kalpetta: The Wayanad Cyber Police arrested a Tamil Nadu native for siphoning off Rs 12.5 lakh from a woman from Mananthavady under the guise of share trading. A police team led by Cyber Police Station Inspector Shaju Joseph took the accused, Murugan (41), a native of Kolathuvancheri, Chennai, into custody on Saturday. The arrest was formally registered on Sunday after he was brought to Wayanad by road.
According to the police, the accused promised the victim significant profits from share trading. The woman had come into contact with the accused through a Telegram account in March. He demanded money from her as a fee for withdrawing the profits she believed she had earned through share trading. The accused siphoned off more than Rs 12.77 lakh from the victim through multiple transactions, police reported.
Realising she had been defrauded, the victim filed a complaint through the Kerala Police’s toll-free cyber crime number, 1930, on the cyber crime portal. The Wayanad Cyber Police Station took over the case and began an investigation. After several months, the police identified the account used by the accused and managed to freeze it. A court warrant was obtained before the police proceeded to Chennai to arrest the account holder.
Police stated that Murugan is not acting alone but is part of a national-level network with connections to another gang based in Mumbai. The accused was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court and has been remanded to judicial custody.
The cyber police wing has also alerted the public to be cautious about cyber crimes and advised them to report any suspicious activities by dialling the toll-free number 1930 or registering a complaint on the website www.cybercrime.gov.in.