200 foreigners, mostly Indians, held for cyber financial scams in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police have arrested at least 200 foreigners, the majority of them Indians, for allegedly engaging in online financial scams, a media report said on Saturday.

The Criminal Investigations Department also found that funds obtained through such frauds have been deposited in bank accounts in the UK, Dubai and India.

News portal NewsFirst.lk quoted officials from the Criminal Investigation Department who said that there were Chinese, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Nepali nationals among those arrested but a majority of them were Indian nationals.

About 400 computers used by the suspects are being subject to investigation.

Earlier on Friday, police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said some 60 Indians were arrested on Thursday from the Colombo suburbs of Madiwela and Battaramulla and the western coastal town of Negombo.

The CID had conducted simultaneous raids in these areas leading to the seizure of 135 mobile phones and 57 laptops.

The crackdown was the result of a complaint from a victim who was lured into a WhatsApp group promising cash for social media interactions.

Police had said the arrests exposed international links in Dubai and Afghanistan even as the victims included both locals and foreigners.