New Delhi: While probing a digital fraud case in which an NRI doctor couple from Greater Kailash-II was duped of nearly Rs 15crore, Delhi Police found that the accused were linked to scammers operating from Cambodia and Nepal. Five fresh arrests across three states have taken the total number of arrests in the case to eight. The newly arrested men have been identified as Mahavir Sharma, 27; Ankit Mishra, 25; Bhupender Kumar Mishra, 37; Pradyuman Tiwari, 44; and Aadesh Kumar Singh, 36. The victims, 77-year-old Dr Indra Taneja and her husband, 81-year-old Dr Om Taneja, were kept under “digital arrest” from Dec 24 to Jan 9. The scammers, posing as police, told them that over 20 complaints had been filed against them for circulating obscene videos and laundering money. The couple eventually transferred money to eight different bank accounts. A special team formed by DCP (IFSO) Vinit Kumar and led by ACP PC Khanduri had earlier arrested three accused — Patel Divyang and Shitole Krutik from Vadodara, and Arun Kumar Tiwari from Prayagraj. Patel opened a mule account where about Rs 4lcrore landed. Tiwari provided another mule account through which Rs 2crore was routed, while Krutik, a diploma holder in IT, acted as a facilitator. In the follow-up crackdown, Sharma was arrested from Bhubaneswar, Mishra from Vadodara, Pradyuman from Varanasi and Bhupender Mishra and Aadesh Singh from Lucknow. Police said all eight suspects acted as facilitators who created and operated mule bank accounts to channel funds on behalf of an international cyber syndicate based in Cambodia and Nepal. Divyang runs an NGO, while Arun works as a private data entry operator. Mahavir Sharma is a BCom graduate, and Ankit, also a BCom graduate, was coordinating with Bhupender Kumar Mishra, who holds an MBA. Aadesh provides private tuition, said police. TNN
