KOCHI: The Cybercrime Police in Kochi City have arrested a four-member gang involved in extorting Rs 42 lakh from a resident of Ernakulam by creating a fraudulent WhatsApp account. The arrested individuals are Vipin Kumar Mishra (22), Dheeraj Kumar (35), Ummat Ali (26) and Sakshimouli Raj (27), all hailing from Uttar Pradesh.

The arrests were made based on a complaint filed by the Chief Financial Officer of a prominent construction company. The suspects crafted a fake WhatsApp account using the photograph of the company's Managing Director. They then proceeded to send messages to the complainant, coercing money from them.

The prime suspect, Vipin Kumar Mishra operates the Aadhaar Digital Seva Kendra. He manipulated the phone numbers and account details of people visiting his establishment for various services, ultimately acquiring their ATM cards. Subsequently, they would initiate fraudulent requests via WhatsApp leading to funds being transferred into their account. The stolen amount would later be withdrawn from ATMs at different locations enabling the culprits to finance a lavish lifestyle.

During the investigation, the police gathered mobile numbers, bank account information, IMEI data and CCTV footage used by the culprits. This inquiry revealed that the withdrawn funds were being taken out from Gorakhpur and Khushinagar. After an extensive probe concentrating on the locations of the phone numbers, the police apprehended the offenders after twelve days of concerted effort in Uttar Pradesh.

The operation, overseen by Cybercrime Station House Officer K J Thomas involved tracking down the real culprits across various locations in Uttar Pradesh. Sakshimouli Raj has three cybercrime cases registered against them at the Mahuli police station in Uttar Pradesh, while another accused Ummath Ali also has cases pending against them. The apprehended suspects were presented in court and subsequently remanded in custody.