Mumbai: The Mumbai Cyber Cell has arrested two more accused from West Bengal in connection with the ₹20 crore fraud involving the digital arrest of an 86-year-old woman from South Mumbai. The arrested suspects have been identified as Bapi Das (53) and Sourashi Bag (41).
According to the South Cyber Cell, ₹38 lakh of the scammed amount was transferred to Bapi Das’s bank account, while ₹1.38 crore was deposited into Sourashi Bag’s account. During the investigation, it was revealed that both accused had rented out their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters. With these latest arrests, the total number of accused in custody has now reached five.
The South Mumbai Cyber Cell revealed that the ₹20 crore scammed from the elderly woman was transferred into 13 different bank accounts across Maharashtra, Assam, and West Bengal. Following this lead, the Cyber Cell traced the bank accounts in West Bengal and uncovered crucial evidence linking them to the fraud.
Based on this evidence, a Cyber Cell team traveled to Ranaghat in West Bengal and arrested the two suspects. According to officials, the bank accounts of the arrested duo were part of “Layer 1” in the scam. Layer 1 refers to the first set of bank accounts where the stolen amount was initially deposited.
During interrogation, the arrested suspects confessed that they had received a hefty commission from cyber criminals for renting their accounts. They also disclosed that they had opened the accounts at the behest of the main accused, Rajik Ajaan Butt. Butt, who has already been arrested, allegedly ran a chat group that included 12 foreign nationals. Within this group, details of 14 bank accounts were shared to facilitate the laundering of stolen funds.
The Mumbai Cyber Cell stated that the investigation is still ongoing and more arrests are expected in the coming days.
