Surat, July 18: The Cyber Crime Cell in Surat has arrested five members of an inter-state cyber fraud network. They are accused of defrauding a resident of ₹26.2 lakh through a fake stock market trading and investment scheme. Investigators found that the bank account used in the scam is linked to 149 cybercrime complaints across India, involving suspicious transactions exceeding ₹6.53 crore.
According to officials, the fraud began when the victim was added to a WhatsApp group where the accused shared alleged stock market trading tips, claiming significant profits through their application. The victim received a link to a fake trading website and was persuaded to create an account. The accused allegedly convinced the victim to transfer a total of ₹26.2 lakh into various bank accounts for trading and investment.
However, the money was never returned, prompting the victim to report the case via the National Cyber Crime Helpline at 1930. Based on the complaint, the Cyber Crime Cell registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2008.
Assistant Police Commissioner (Cyber Crime) S.E. Daniel oversaw the investigation, while Police Inspector V.D. Mandora led the team that tracked the accused through technical analysis, financial transaction scrutiny, digital evidence, and inter-state coordination.
The police arrested the five suspects from Odisha and West Bengal. They were identified as Ranjan alias Sunil (33) from Sundargarh, Krishna Kumhar alias Kishan (54) from Jharsuguda, Subhashchandra (52) from Gajapati, Alamgir (41) from Purba Bardhaman, and Basant Singh alias Singhsar alias Big Boss (45) from Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Investigators revealed that Ranjan and Krishna jointly opened a current account at Axis Bank under the name ‘RRK Publicbazaar Private Limited.’ They allegedly rented the account to Subhashchandra and Alamgir for a commission. It is claimed that these two then handed over the account kit to Basant Singh, who provided it to the absconding members of the gang to execute the cyber fraud.
The police reported that the accused transferred the money obtained from the cyber fraud to absconding conspirators via net banking through IMPS and RTGS. In the current case, investigators found that ₹50,000 obtained from the victim’s fraud was sent through this account.
The police also discovered that a total of ₹6,53,43,924 in suspicious cyber fraud transactions occurred through the account between March 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026.
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