Dismissing the anticipatory bail of a man booked in an online fraud case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has said that it was unfortunate that the “maximum number of cyber criminals operate” from India, “bringing a terrible name to the nation”.
The petitioner-accused, Mohammad Jubair, had been arrested for his alleged involvement in an online fraud wherein he allegedly pretended to be working for an insurance company and duped the complainant, who works in the Central Reserve Police Force, of Rs 14,46,662.
Hearing the petition on February 22, the bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara said, “Besides being middle-aged or old, most victims are simple, honest, and truthful people who believe these thugs [fraudsters] to be like them. They do not know any technology except some basic features of smartphones, and this little knowledge makes them vulnerable to cyber-thugs. Unfortunately, the maximum number of cyber criminals operate from our country, bringing a terrible name to the nation.”
The counsel for the state opposed the bail and stated that the petitioner’s custodial interrogation is required to trace the other accomplices and recover the money. He submitted that if the investigator gets evidence against those accused, who have been granted bail, the state shall file applications to cancel the bail orders.
After an FIR was registered in March 2022 at Pehowa police station in Kurukshetra district under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code – charges under several other IPC sections were subsequently added – a police investigation revealed the involvement of other accused, allegedly from Noida-based Haxar Insurance Service Private Limited company.
The investigation further revealed that the call centre operated by the company would allegedly target unsuspecting people and get money from their accounts transferred into accounts in the states of Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The investigation further pointed towards the involvement of Jubair after Rs 1,17,170 was transferred into his account from the account of co-accused Rishikesh Tiwari.
Hearing the matter, the high court held, “The modus operandi of these call centre thugs is that operating in a pack, one gets in touch with a vulnerable suspect through malicious links sent through phishing or by making calls on their numbers. They get access to these numbers from the dark web, where another set of criminals keeps selling people’s personal information, like their mobile numbers, e-mails, and even Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, PAN, passport details, date of birth, etc. They interact as per a specifically designed transcript. After taking such victims in confidence, they would pass on the call to their accomplices by referring to them as their managers.”
Justice Chitkara added, “Whenever these thugs find that the victim is slipping away, they bring another gang member by referring [to] them as a senior manager, who would again entrap the person. They also prefer female gang members to speak to the male victims. They work and operate in criminal conspiracy and target to siphon money from the victim’s accounts. All these thugs who attend such calls or become instrumental in the cycling of the funds, prima facie, are fully aware of the motive and style of the gang’s operations, which is to rob the susceptible victim of as much money as possible and continue to do so until such a person runs out of liquidity.”
The high court said that prima facie, there is sufficient evidence to connect the petitioner with the proceeds of crime and his operating as a conduit and an active member of gangs of cyber fraudsters. “The evidence indicates that the petitioner and his accomplices operate as online thugs. The sly way the petitioner’s accomplice, in connivance of the petitioner and other thugs, conned, tricked, deceived, swindled, and defrauded the gullible complainant pointed out the dangerous indicator that the thugee [fraud] has revived, and if not sternly dealt with now, it might upsurge, revisiting the history,” the court added.
Dismissing the bail plea, the high court said Jubair’s custodial interrogation is required to find out the involvement of other co-accused and the role of the management of the company.
The high court also made it clear that in case the investigator finds sufficient evidence connecting those accused who have been granted bail, it shall be permissible to file an application for cancellation of such bail by referring to such evidence.
