The Cyber Crime Branch of Bhopal on Tuesday arrested five individuals involved in a share marketing fraud. Among them, two cyber criminals are from Shivpuri whereas three hail from Surat located in the neighbouring Gujarat. They were involved in a scam promising lucrative returns through share market investments. The investigation revealed that these individuals defrauded a victim of Rs 9 lakhs by luring them into believing they were investing in shares through a fictitious company, MRT Marketing Private Limited. The operation was initiated following a complaint from the victim, who reported that an unknown individual had contacted her grandson via mobile, claiming to represent the aforementioned company and convincing him to transfer the money.

 

The Cyber Crime Branch registered a case against the actual users of the fraudulent bank accounts, launching a detailed investigation. The accused were identified as Ramnath Lodhi, a 45-year-old property broker from Shivpuri, who was the account holder used for the fraud. Dhaniram Jatav and a 27-year-old from Shivpuri, who facilitated the scam. In Surat, the authorities apprehended Banbhaniya Shanti, 25, Parmar Kamleshbhai, 29, and Prajapati Ashwin, 35, all of whom were linked to the fraudulent transactions. The arrested individuals are currently facing serious charges, and the investigation is ongoing to uncover any additional accomplices in this organised crime. The criminals transferred the ill-gotten amount into a current bank account in Shivpuri and subsequently withdrew cash by transferring the money to various other bank accounts. A thorough technical investigation enabled the authorities to identify and arrest the account holder and an intermediary agent in Shivpuri, who had sold the account used for the fraudulent transactions, which amounted to nearly Rs 80 lakh.