On the intervening nights of July 12 and 13, an insurance worker, Bhupendra Vishwakarma, gave poison to two of his children and later hanged himself with his wife. This shocking suicide was committed after he became a victim of cyber fraud. The perpetrators were in possession of some videos and pictures apart from his bank details, and they were threatening him with dire consequences. This week, Bhopal police arrested as many as five Islamists involved in this case.
The arrested accused have been identified as Shariq Baig (25), Mohammad Ubez Khan (27), Arshad Baig (29), Shah Jahan alias Shaji Khan (31) and Farhan Rehman (30), all residents of Bhopal. A new accused has been added to this list, identified as Imran, who used to introduce himself as a foreigner.
Notably, these five accused in order to become rich came in touch with a man linked with a Chinese cyber-theft syndicate and joined a telegram group.
During the investigations, police found that Rs 95,700 were transferred from the Bank of Baroda account of insurance agent Bhupendra Vishwakarma, who committed suicide, to an account at Yes Bank in Bhopal. On this basis, the police made the arrest. Five people, including the account holder and an employee of Yes Bank, got a commission of Rs 1.80 lakh from the victim. The police is now on the lookout for the accused who gave this commission.
Shariq said, “We had a plan, but no money to open an account”
Accused Shariq in his statements to the police said that he was friends with Shahjahan alias Shaji, who lives at Kamla Park. Shaji told him in the month of April that he had come in contact with some people through the Telegram group. There are big businessmen from India and abroad, who do transactions worth lakhs and crores of rupees every day. For this they need a bank account. They give thousands and lakhs of rupees as commission to the account renters. If the account is made available to them, they can earn crores of rupees within a few months.
Shariq accepted his offer, but to open the account, an amount of Rs 25,000 was needed as security money. He did not have this amount. Later, Shaji shared his plan with Arshad. He asked him for the expenses involved in opening the account. In lieu of this, he was lured to give a share in the amount received from the users of the account. Arshad also did not have that much money. So he asked his friend to finance it and put a condition that he would also have to give a share in return.
Shaji accepted his condition. Then Arshad took documentary expenses and rented a shop in the name of Amayra Traders, near Talaiya police station. The security money to be deposited in the bank to open a current account of 25 thousand was taken from friend Ubej alias Yuvi. FI accused Farhan (an employee of Yes Bank) took ten thousand rupees to open a bank account. This amount was also given by Yuvi, on the basis of which the account was opened.
Who is Imran, with the China link?
Shaji told the police that he was friends with a person named Imran from Mumbai. He was connected to him via a Telegram group. In this group, a young man who introduced himself as Imran from abroad used to give orders and instructions to them. After getting the amount in the account, it was told what to do next. Shaji had also shared the account number of Amyra Traders on this group, in which a huge amount had come.
Notably, Imran was the official representative of the company Bhupendra referred to his suicide note. The click is this was not Columbia-based but a China-based fake company made to loot money from innocent people. Imran, who lived in Mumbai introduced himself as a foreigner to the other group members.
Transactions worth Rs 8 crore were done in this account and he got Rs 1.80 lakh in lieu of commission through UPI. Out of this, Rs 50,000 was first given to Yuvi, because he had borne the expenses from opening the account to opening the fake office of Amyra Traders and getting other documents made. Out of the remaining Rs 1.30 lakh, Rs 30,000 was given to Yuvi as profit. The remaining amount was divided equally between Shaji, Arshad and Shariq.
No past link with Bhupendra (the victim)
The police had also questioned the accused regarding the existence of any old acquaintance between Bhupendra and them. The accused told that they did not know any Bhupendra, the people who had taken his account from him on rent, used to keep in contact with him only on Telegram. It is a mere coincidence that Bhupendra, the victim of the cyber fraudster’s harassment, and the accused who hired the account are residents of Bhopal.
Let’s dig into the profiles of the accused
Shariq is a history-sheeter
Shariq, a native of the Jahangirabad area in Bhopal is a history-sheeter and has half a dozen cases registered against him. These cases include gambling, assault and more. His father is also listed a goon in the Jahangirabad police station. After a number of cases were registered against him and his family in the area they moved to Akhliya.
Shaji was the right hand of gangster ‘Munna Painter’
Shaji who is involved in the fish trade business comes from a goon family. His father is considered as the right hand of the famous gangster ‘Munna Painter’. Shaji also has multiple cases registered against him. He is married and has two children.
Kabadiwala’s son Arshad
Arshad’s father Jahid is a big Kabadiwala in Bhopal. His younger brother is part of his father’s business, whereas Arshad is known for his recklessness. He is involved in multiple controversies.
Yes Bank employee Farhan
Police is looking for documented cases against Farhan , who was an employee at Yes Bank, Bhopal Branch.
Ubez is also involved in multiple cases
The Bhopal police is looking for cases registered against Ubez.
How the plan was executed?
The police solved the case in 38 days and this is how the police theory claims the role of the accused arrested;
Amount transferred to the account of Shariq’s firm, Amyra Traders
Bhopal cyber police investigation revealed that money was transferred from Bhupendra’s Bank of Baroda account to Amyra Traders’ account in Yes Bank’s Hamidia Road branch. A sum of Rs 95,700 were transferred to this account. Shariq is the proprietor of Amyra Traders. When Shariq was interrogated in custody, the names of four more accused came to the fore.
Shaji asks Shariq to open the account
During the police interrogation, Shariq revealed that Shaji is his acquaintance. He said that he is connected to a group on Telegram where people are earning lakhs of rupees by investing in online businesses. To join this group it is necessary to have a current account. Shariq agreed to open an account in the name of his firm on the advice of Shaji.
Ubez got the banker Farhan to identify Shaji
Ubez is Shaji’s friend. It was Ubez who introduced Shaji to Yes Bank employee Farhan. Farhan fraudulently conducted a Field Investigation (FI) before opening the account in the name of Amyra Firm. When the investigation was done, only tables were kept at Shariq’s shop. There was a poster outside. Shariq was not even present during the investigation. Even after this, Farhan, a bank employee, made a positive FI regarding the amount of about 10 thousand rupees. With this, the account was opened at Yes Bank.
Arshad had withdrawn the amount from the account
Arshad Baig is a relative of accused Shariq. Both are also friends. Arshad had withdrawn the amount from Bhupendra’s account to Shariq’s current account. He had arranged the banner and table put up in Amyra Traders’ shop before the FI. Shaji was the mediator in this forgery. He used to keep in touch with the accused on the Telegram group. Used to convey his guidelines to other accused.
Notably, Bhupendra Vishwakarma (38), a resident of Shiv Vihar Colony in Ratibad, Bhopal, used to work as an insurance agent at Tata AIG as well as an online job in a Colombia-based company. Bhupendra had work pressure and a loan. The company hacked his laptop and made edited pornographic videos viral on the contacts found in it. Distressed by this, Bhupendra hanged himself along with his wife Ritu (35) on the intervening night of July 12 and 13. He did this, after poisoning two of his sons Rituraj (3) and Rishi Raj (9). Before dying they clicked an emotional selfie and demanded for a collective cremation.
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