Police seize mobile phone of lawyer pressuring victim on Sontu’s behest
19 Sep 2023 07:49:35
Staff Reporter
A lawyer from Nagpur was found indulging in pressurising the complainant to withdraw his complaint in the Rs 58 crore on-line gaming fraud case. The police have seized the mobile phone of the lawyer and discovered objectionable chatting with notorious on-line gaming fraudster Ananth, also known as Sontu Navratan Jain, and the lawyer. A top rank police official said that the lawyer approached the complainant last week reportedly on the instructions of Sontu Jain. He pressured the complainant to settle the case. Before contacting the complainant, the lawyer was in constant touch wth Sontu Jain on his UK-based mobile number, the official said. The phone has been sent for cyber forensic examination to retrieve the deleted messages and data.
The police are likely to file an FIR against the lawyer on the basis of the complaint received from the victim, he said. In yet another development, an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Delhi Unit also tried to intervene in the fraud case and contacted officials of the Crime Branch. The official was staying at a five-star hotel on Wardha road. He reportedly met the Crime Branch officials and urged them to settle the case. The Narcotics Control Bureau official retired from Border Security Force (BSF) before joining the NCB on contractual basis, said the police official. The multi-crore fraud came to fore when the police had raided Sontu’s Gondia house on July 22, and seized Rs 17 crore in cash, 14 kg of gold, and 294 kg of silver with a combined worth of Rs 27 crore.
On August 2, Rs 85 lakh cash and gold worth over Rs 4.5 crore were found in the bank lockers of Sontu and his family members. The official said that the huge wealth was amassed by Sontu Jain by duping several persons through the on-line gaming fraud. The investigation into this on-line gaming fraud case started when a Nagpur-based businessman approached the police, claiming to have been duped of Rs 58 crore by Sontu’s gaming platform. He alleged that the results were manipulated, leading to substantial financial losses.