ALAPPUZHA: The crime branch has arrested the main accused in the case of swindling Rs 7.60 crore of a doctor couple from Cherthala in the name of online share trading. A team led by DySP Sunil Raj arrested Bhagwan Ram Patel, a native of Bengaluru. There are indications that one more person is in custody. This is the biggest online financial fraud in the state. The incident happened last June.

According to the police:

Bhagwan Ram Patel met the couple through WhatsApp and swindled the money in multiple instalments. The money was taken from the couple by misleading them into believing that the accused were in positions of authority of some companies dealing with share trading, showing forged documents and making the couple believe that they would be given a higher return on the investment. They were convinced by sending a fake statement that the deposit and profits were in the account. The account was temporarily frozen when the doctor couple turned down the accused's request to increase the investment. The doctor lodged a complaint after the accused threatened him to pay another Rs 2 crore to get back the deposited amount or else legal action would be taken. As per the instructions of district police chief Mohanachandran, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was appointed and the accused was arrested from Yelahanka during a search conducted by the investigating team after staying in Bengaluru for weeks after monitoring phone calls with the help of cyber cell. It is being investigated whether there are more accused in the incident. The accused was produced before the Cherthala court and remanded. Crime Branch SI Augustine Varghese, ASIs V V Vinod and Harikumar, CI G Arun of the Special Investigation Team, SIs Sajikumar and S Sudheer, senior CPO Baijumon and Antony Joseph were in the team that nabbed the accused.