Malappuram: In a daring operation, the Malappuram Cyber Police arrested a Patna native for his involvement in defrauding Rs 1.08 crore from a Vengara resident. The accused lured the victim by promising high profits through share trading.

The police had arrested two people in connection with the case and managed to nab the third one with the leads received from them.

The investigation team under cyber police Inspector IC Chitharanjan made the first breakthrough when they arrested a Delhi native, Roshan, from a rented house in Madikeri and seized 50,000 SIM cards and over 180 mobile phones in May. The interrogation revealed the details about another accused who was subsequently arrested from Haryana.

"The inputs from these two helped us identify Aneesh Kumar, also known as Sonu, a native of Patna, Bihar, as another key suspect in the fraud. Under the special instructions of District Police Chief R Vishwanath, a team under me comprising Sub-Inspector Madhusoodanan, Senior Civil Police Officers Shaijal Padippura and KM Shafi, camped in Bihar for several days. The team, operating under the supervision of DCRB DySP Saju K Abraham, discreetly monitored Aneesh's movements. Despite resistance from locals, the cyber squad apprehended him in a daring operation at Rupaspur near Patna,” Chitharanjan said.

The accused was presented before the Malappuram Judicial First Class Magistrate Court and remanded to judicial custody at the Manjeri sub-jail.

The case was initially registered at the Vengara police station and transferred to the Malappuram Cyber Crime Police Station for further investigation, following the directions of the District Police Chief.