Mumbai: Weeks after a city college student fell prey to a bitcoin scam on Instagram, a team of five officers from the Matunga police station set out to nab the fraudster, not knowing that it will be an arduous journey to a remote anti-cop area in West Bengal. The highlight of the chase, though, was that they were able to recover the entire amount the student had lost.
Mumbai engineering student was duped of Rs 24,000
The first-year engineering student in Mumbai was duped of Rs24,000 in January with the fake promise of doubling her investment through crypto currency. The message on her Insta account came from one Saina Agarwal, who claimed to run a firm called Binomo Bitcoin. The complainant first invested Rs 1,000 and was charged on various pretexts, ultimately losing Rs 23,996, with most of it borrowed from her parents.
Her messages to the fraudsters were dodged, before the number became inaccessible, said Police Inspector Keshav Wagh, the investigation officer in the case.
Police traced caller's location to West Bengal using data records
The police team traced the caller’s location from the number the complainant had first dialled. Matching the data records from the Instagram handle and the bank account to which the transactions were made using the QR code, the police managed to trace the tower locations and a name, which were in two different places in West Bengal. The bank account was registered under a woman’s name.
Reaching a remote location in West Bengal, Rabindra Nagar in Maheshtala, the team was stuck among unfriendly locals for the next five days with minimal assistance from the local police. It didn’t help that the area also had low connectivity.
IO said they got leads through the pain puri sekkers in otherwise unfriendly village
Wagh said, “We had to eat so many spicy pani puris just to converse with pani puri wallahs. During this small talk with them we enquired about the suspects and the place we were in,” he added.
Wagh said the team was scared that the demeanour of locals suggested they would attack them. The local police were equally scared to enter the village but they somehow managed. He said the village is termed as ‘damaged’ as they usually get upset when authorities enter the area.
The accused was arrested from Dangapara village
Finally, they reached Dangapara village and maintained a stern stand. After checking a few houses, they managed to reach the accused, Saidul Ali Maula, 24, who has his own tailoring business. We could draw him out by promising the locals that it was only for questioning.
On questioning, Maula confessed to the crime and was later presented before a local court located in Alipore. After getting special permission, he was brought to Mumbai for further investigation. The police managed to recover the entire amount the college student had lost. He was also presented before a Mumbai court, which remanded him to police custody till February 27.
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