Bathery: An online trading racket which duped hapless people of lakhs was busted by the Bathery police from Bengaluru. Four conmen have been taken into custody.

Thiruvananthapuram natives, Jibin (28) from Badania House in Pojappura, Ananthu (29) from Sheela Bhavan in Kazhakootam; Palakkad native Rahul (29) from Kondukattil House in Anakkara; and Kuttiayadi native Abhinav (24) from Kizhakel House were arrested from Electronics City in Bengaluru on Monday night.

Twenty mobiles, eight SIM cards, nine ATM cards, and Rs 8,30,000 were seized from them. The arrest followed a complaint lodged by a youth from Kuppadi who was duped of Rs 2,30,000 in tranches.

According to the complaint, the suspects, posing as traders, lured the victim with promises of trade benefits in October 2023 and subsequently defrauded him. Further investigations revealed that the arrested individuals had duped numerous others using similar tactics.

Their modus operandi involved targeting unsuspecting individuals through illegally obtained mobile phones. After swindling their victims, the perpetrators discarded the SIM cards and obtained new ones to continue their fraudulent activities, resulting in substantial financial losses for many.

Authorities are also actively pursuing a Karnataka native suspected of providing databases and bank account details of potential victims. The full extent of the gang's fraudulent activities and the number of victims affected remain unknown at this time.