Haridwar: Five members of a Bihar-based interstate cyberfraud gang were arrested after being intercepted at the Rasiabad checkpoint in Shyampur, Haridwar on Wednesday.Police recovered 35 ATM cards, 14 bank passbooks, 17 SIM cards, 18 mobile phones, two laptops and Rs 37,500 in cash. A preliminary analysis of digital transactions revealed a suspicious trail of over Rs 2.75 crore.Shyampur SHO Nitish Sharma told TOI, “It is a big cyberfraud gang, and so far we have information about around 500 accounts to which they transferred money from victims’ accounts. WhatsApp chats and UPI transactions have revealed a suspicious trail of over Rs 2.75 crore. Five accused have been arrested, and they have revealed many names and details of other gang members. A team has been formed to nab the other accused. Apart from this, details of both the victims and the accused are being shared with cyber experts to crack the entire cyberfraud network.”The accused allegedly used mule accounts, UPI transfers and ATM withdrawals to siphon off money. They also allegedly duped people through online trading and loan schemes. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.The accused were identified as Krishna Pandey, 24, Niranjan Kumar, 23, and Chandrmani Kumar, 25, of Nawada, Bihar, and Chandan Pandey, 20, and Sunny Kumar, 21, of Haridwar.Police said cyberfraud complaints linked to the gang had been found in around 15 states, including West Bengal, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
