Punjab Police have busted a gang of inter-state cyber fraudsters who duped noted industrialist and Vardhman Group Chairman Shri Paul Oswal of Rs 7 crore.
Ludhiana Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said two frausters have been arrested from Guwahati and Rs 5.25 crore have been recovered from them.
Seven other members of this gang have been identified and efforts were on to nab them, he said.
He added that all the nine members of the gang belonged to Assam and West Bengal.
In the last week of August, Oswal received a call from a man pretending to be a CBI officer. The fraudster accused him of being associated with a parcel with 58 fake passports and 16 ATM cards seized by Mumbai customs.
To convince Oswal, the accused made a video call to him in which he was seen sitting in an office with a huge logo of CBI in the background.
The scamsters also faked an online Supreme Court hearing through Skype. They even hired someone to pretend to be Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
The fraudsters sent him an arrest warrant through WhatsApp. They offered help to Oswal saying that they will only digitally arrest him. They even told him to leave the Skype app open even when he slept so that they can spy on him.
The imposters made him transfer Rs 7 crores in two different bank accounts saying that once he is proved innocent, the money will be refunded. Oswal transferred the money however later on discussed the matter with his manager who found it suspicious and informed the police.
The cyber cell of the police registered the case on the complaint of Oswal and it solved the case within 48 hours.
The accused have been identified as Atanoo Choudhary and Anand Kumar Choudhary (both residents of Guwahati in Assam).
Earlier, local industrialist Rajnish Ahuja was duped of Rs 1.01 crore by some fraudsters by threatening him with an arrest warrant after claiming that an extortion amount was transferred to his bank account.