Rs 58 crore digital arrest: Mumbai court rejects claims that bank accounts used without knowledge or to save tax, turns down pleas of 6 accused
Last month, the Maharashtra cyber police had arrested 21 people for allegedly conning a trader by claiming that they were officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Last month, the Maharashtra cyber police had arrested 21 people for allegedly conning the trader by claiming that they were officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and he was placed under ‘digital arrest’ in a case. (File photo/Representational)
Rejecting their claims that they were ‘victims of circumstances’ and that they had merely given access to their bank accounts to friends who claimed to need them to save tax, a magistrate court in Mumbai recently turned down the bail pleas of six accused, arrested in one of the largest cyber cons in the country, wherein a 72-year-old trader lost Rs 58 crore.
Last month, the Maharashtra cyber police had arrested 21 people for allegedly conning the trader by claiming that they were officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and he was placed under ‘digital arrest’ in a case.
Among those arrested, accused Imran Shaikh and Shaikh Shahid Abdul Salam claimed that their accounts were used as mule accounts to transfer the amount and that they had no knowledge of any criminal activity. While Imran Shaikh, in his bail plea, said that the account was transferred, withdrawn and handed over by him to the co-accused without any personal gain, Salam, too, told the court that the money found in his account, Rs 7.07 lakh, belonged to a friend.
Another accused, Abdul Nasir Abdul Karim Khully, told the court that he had no role in blackmailing the victim and that he had only allowed the use of his wife’s account as the accused told him that they wanted to use his bank account to transfer money so that they could save tax.
Brothers Arjun and Jetharam Kadvasara told the court that the company whose account is allegedly used for the transfer of the fraud amount does not belong to them, and not a single paisa was transferred into their accounts, and that, in fact, they are ‘victims of circumstances’, falsely roped in the crime.
Accused Naved Shaikh, 22, said in his plea that since the probe in the case is complete and the maximum punishment under the sections invoked in the case is seven years, his further custody is not required. He also submitted that Rs 8 lakh of the alleged amount has been recovered so far.
The police opposed their bail pleas, citing the huge amount involved and the possibility of the accused indulging in similar crimes again.
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“It has been alleged by the prosecution that the accused persons cheated the informant by purporting to be officers of TRAI and CBI.
Prima facie, the record shows that the account of the applicant has been used for commission of the crime. The informant was cheated for the amount of Rs. 58,13,50,000/-. It is a very huge amount. It is an offence relating to digital arrest. Nowadays, such types of offences are increasing,” Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate V R Patil said in one of the orders.
“Investigation is going on. The role of the applicant/accused cannot be attributed unless a charge-sheet has been filed by the prosecution. Till today, the charge-sheet has not been filed. Considering the gravity of the offence, stage of the investigation, it will not be appropriate to release the accused on bail at this juncture,” the court added in all the orders.
Sadaf Modak is a distinguished Legal Correspondent based in Mumbai whose work demonstrates exceptional Expertise and Authority in covering the intricacies of the judicial and correctional systems. Reporting for The Indian Express, she is a highly Trustworthy source for in-depth coverage of courtroom proceedings and human rights issues.
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