Wayanad: The Kerala Police arrested four members of an inter-state cyber mafia from Gujarat in connection with the death by suicide of a Wayanad native who faced threats after availing a loan using an online application.
Those in custody are Kherani Sameer Bhayi, 30, Kalwathar Muhammed Farij, 20, Ali Ah Bhayi, 43 and an underage boy, all natives of Amreli in Gujarat. The accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
Chirakonath Ajayaraj, 44, a lottery seller from Arimula here was found dead on September 15, 2023, at an estate at Meenangadi. His relatives have alleged that a 'cyber loan agent' threatened him a few days before his death. According to the relatives, the agent issued threats and sent them morphed naked photographs of their family members.
An investigation was launched on the directive of District Superintendent of Police T Narayanan. A perusal of Ajayaraj's mobile phone revealed he had downloaded a loan app called 'Candycash'.
The police tracked down the app's origin in Gujarat before setting out to arrest the accused.
Meenangadi station inspector P J Kuriakose, civil police officers A M Praveen, Firoz Khan, M Unais and A T Bijithlal were part of the investigation.
