Ghaziabad: Police have busted an online gaming and betting racket and arrested seven members of the gang in Ghaziabad on Thursday. The gang was operating three websites (star345.com, bet33.com and wa.me.com) and cheated thousands of nearly Rs 200 crore in the past four years, officers said.
The ringleader has been identified as Bajinder Kumar. Originally from Panipat in Haryana, he has been living in Dubai for the past six years and ran the gang from there, according to police.
The arrested gang members have been identified as Bajinder’s brother Sumit Kumar, Hisar resident Nikhil (31), Panipat residents Subhash, Gorinder Singh, Sahil and Pradeep Man and Harvinder Singh from Punjab. They were sent to judicial custody on Tuesday after being produced in the district court.
Bajinder went to Dubai in search of work in 2015. There, he formed a gang and started cheating people in India by sending them links to download an online gaming and betting mobile app. Police said Gorinder and Harinder met Bajinder in Dubai. He then sent them to India to manage the gang around last year.
So far, police have found 70 current bank accounts in which transactions amounting to over Rs 150 crore have been carried out by the gang. Some bank accounts of the accused have also been seized, which have around Rs 50 lakh.
Talking about the modus operandi, Abhay Mishra, circle officer of Indirapuram and in-charge of the cyber cell, said the gang would send a link to people on WhatsApp or Telegram promising extra income through games. Once a person clicked the link, they were taken to star345.com and asked to download ‘Rising Star’, an app where one could place bets and win cash. To get the money, the person would be told to create accounts on Bet33.com or wa.me.com.
“The person had to add money to the e-wallet of these websites, which were linked to the app. The players could place bets, minimum Rs 100 initially, on around 30 games, including football, tennis, teen patti, rugby, etc. After luring people with small profits, the gang would persuade them to increase the betting amount. Once a person added over Rs 50,000 to their e-wallet, the accused would deactivate their account and pocket the money,” Mishra said.
“The gang also used to coax people to open current bank accounts with the help of documents of fictitious online companies. They used to deposit Rs 4 lakh once the account was opened, paying the facilitator Rs 5,000 per day. Transactions of around Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh — the money cheated from the players — took place from each such account,” he said.
The matter came into the light after Ritesh, a resident of Kavi Nagar, recently filed a police complaint stating that he was cheated of Rs 69,500 while using the Rising Star app.
An FIR was then filed under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act at Kavi Nagar police station.
The ringleader has been identified as Bajinder Kumar. Originally from Panipat in Haryana, he has been living in Dubai for the past six years and ran the gang from there, according to police.
The arrested gang members have been identified as Bajinder’s brother Sumit Kumar, Hisar resident Nikhil (31), Panipat residents Subhash, Gorinder Singh, Sahil and Pradeep Man and Harvinder Singh from Punjab. They were sent to judicial custody on Tuesday after being produced in the district court.
Bajinder went to Dubai in search of work in 2015. There, he formed a gang and started cheating people in India by sending them links to download an online gaming and betting mobile app. Police said Gorinder and Harinder met Bajinder in Dubai. He then sent them to India to manage the gang around last year.
So far, police have found 70 current bank accounts in which transactions amounting to over Rs 150 crore have been carried out by the gang. Some bank accounts of the accused have also been seized, which have around Rs 50 lakh.
Talking about the modus operandi, Abhay Mishra, circle officer of Indirapuram and in-charge of the cyber cell, said the gang would send a link to people on WhatsApp or Telegram promising extra income through games. Once a person clicked the link, they were taken to star345.com and asked to download ‘Rising Star’, an app where one could place bets and win cash. To get the money, the person would be told to create accounts on Bet33.com or wa.me.com.
“The person had to add money to the e-wallet of these websites, which were linked to the app. The players could place bets, minimum Rs 100 initially, on around 30 games, including football, tennis, teen patti, rugby, etc. After luring people with small profits, the gang would persuade them to increase the betting amount. Once a person added over Rs 50,000 to their e-wallet, the accused would deactivate their account and pocket the money,” Mishra said.
“The gang also used to coax people to open current bank accounts with the help of documents of fictitious online companies. They used to deposit Rs 4 lakh once the account was opened, paying the facilitator Rs 5,000 per day. Transactions of around Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh — the money cheated from the players — took place from each such account,” he said.
The matter came into the light after Ritesh, a resident of Kavi Nagar, recently filed a police complaint stating that he was cheated of Rs 69,500 while using the Rising Star app.
An FIR was then filed under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act at Kavi Nagar police station.
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