BHOPAL: Gwalior cyber police arrested three students from a hostel in Noida for alleged links with a syndicate that trapped a BSF officer in digital arrest for a month and scammed him of over Rs 71 lakh. The suspects were identified as Aftab Ahmed Khan, a BTech student from Jharkhand, Akhil Singh Bais, a BBA student from Delhi, and a class 12 student from Kota, Rajasthan.
The racketeers, posing as Mumbai Crime Branch officers, had threatened to arrest the BSF inspector’s wife and son and forced him into making 34 transactions. The victim – who is on the verge of retirement and now posted at BSF Academy in Tekanpur, Gwalior – was told that his Aadhaar card had been used for money laundering. Desperate to save his family, he sold off his flat, mortgaged his land and borrowed from friends.
Gwalior cyber cops said the youngsters had been cyber-scamming people for two years. The money scammed was transferred to bank accounts in Karnataka, Aurangabad, and Gurgaon.
Police said accused would persuade students to open bank accounts, which were then handed over to a Chinese gang. Some 20 accounts have been traced so far. When fraudulently obtained money was deposited, the accused would deduct a 6% commission and convert the remaining amount into USDT, which was then routed to the Chinese gang.