Two held for conning youth of Rs 1.31 crore

Two persons were arrested by local police from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh for their alleged role in an online lottery racket, believed to be masterminded by a Nigerian, that conned a local youth of Rs 1.31 crore, a senior officer said today.
The accused, businessman Rajawat Dhirendra Singh (29) and college student Rana Akash (22), are allegedly part of a racket that tricks people by sending them SMSes on mobile phones claiming they have won a foreign lottery and then cheat them by asking them to deposit money as charges for conversion of currency, police said.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of local police apprehended both the accused yesterday, said DCP (crime) T Ravi Kumar Murthy.

Police are interrogating them to find out the role of others involved in the racket allegedly run by a Nigerian.
The complaint was lodged by local resident P Venkat Ramana (22) earlier this year stating that he was asked to deposit Rs 1.31 crore in as many as 30 bank accounts by the accused who claimed that he had won a lottery worth Rs 5 crore in UK.
The SMSes allegedly sent by the accused asked Venkat Ramana to deposit the money as charges towards conversion of British Pound into Indian rupees to claim the amount, the DCP said.

The victim raised money by borrowing from his relatives and selling properties, the officer said, adding the victim deposited Rs 1,31,50,000 in various bank accounts in 50 instalments.

The fraudsters even sent a "CBI clearance certificate" to Venkata Ramana to add credence to the murky transactions, the officer said.
However, the so-called certificate eventually turned out to be false after Venkat Ramana went to Delhi and meet an official of the agency.
"Based on the bank accounts numbers in which Venkata Ramana deposited money, police have widened the scope of investigation and visiting various cities. We came to know that a total of 31 persons were involved in the crime," the DCP said.
On the role of Singh and Rana Akash, he said they had provided their bank account numbers to Venkat Ramana.

He said the duo withdrew Rs 50,000 out of Rs 2 lakh deposited by Venkat Ramana in their accounts and transferred the rest to other accounts which are now under scanner.