Vardhman Group chairman SP Oswal duped of Rs 7 cr by cyber fraudsters: Nine months on, Assam-based accused re-arrested, says Ludhiana police

According to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre established by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the recovery of Rs 5.25 crore from the bank account of the accused was the biggest ever in the country in the category of cyber crimes reported to date, Ludhiana police said.

Ludhiana DCP (city and rural) Rupinder Singh said, “The cyber wing arrested Chaudhary in Guwahati, following a tip-off. His eight accomplices, hailing from West Bengal and Delhi, have also been identified and will be arrested soon. All of them run a well-oiled interstate cyber fraud gang.”

Police said fraudsters duped Oswal in August last year by showing him “fake arrest warrants issued by the Supreme Court”, following which the industrialist transferred Rs 7 crore to the bank accounts of the accused. The accused had also kept Oswal under “digital arrest” for at least 48 hours, and had threatened him not to share it with anyone to avoid legal consequences, police said.

Rs 5.25 crore was recovered from the accused and transferred to Oswal’s bank accounts, police said.

On August 29 and 30 last year, police said, the accused called Oswal on his personal contact number posing as CBI officials and claimed a Malaysia-bound parcel had been confiscated by the Mumbai customs department containing 58 passports and 16 ATM cards. The accused told Oswal that the parcel was sent by his company and arrest warrants against him were issued by the Supreme Court, police said.

Police further said that when Oswal denied sending such a parcel, the accused in formal dresses made a video call to him on Skype, convincing him that they were actually from the CBI and arrest warrants had been issued against him by the Supreme Court.

Oswal had then transferred Rs 7 crore to the bank accounts of the accused, including Rs 4 crore in one tranche and Rs 3 crore in three more tranches of Rs 1 crore each.

An FIR was registered under sections 308 (2), 319 (2), 318 (4), 351 (2), 61 (2) of the BNS and 66-C and D of the Information Technology Act at the cyber crime police station, Ludhiana, on August 31 and a probe was initiated.

Police teams were sent to Guwahati, and Chaudhary was arrested, along with his accomplice Anand Kumar. Rs 5.25 crore was recovered from bank accounts related to the gang members, and the transactions reverted to Oswal’s account.

Those yet to be arrested are Nimmi Bhattacharjee of Guwahati, Alok Rangi and Gulam Mortaza of Malda (West Bengal), Sanjay Sutradhar of Hazarapur (Assam), Rintu of Nalwari (Assam) Rumi Kalita of Guwahati (Assam) and one Zakir.

Established in 1965, Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group, currently having a turnover of more than one billion dollars, is the largest vertically integrated textile manufacturer in India.