Malappuram man held for ₹25 lakh online share trading fraud

Alappuzha: The Alappuzha Cyber Crime Police on Tuesday arrested a native of Malappuram in connection with an online share trading fraud worth ₹25.5 lakh. The accused, Mushtaq Bakir (29) of Kondotty, defrauded a resident of Kanthalloor, Alappuzha, by making him transfer money through a fake share trading application.

According to the police, Bakir posed as a representative of a private share trading company and contacted the complainant through social media. Bakir then convinced him to install a fake trading app on his phone and create an account in it. Over two months, the complainant transferred ₹25.5 lakh to the bank accounts specified by the accused through this app. When the amount did not appear in his account on the app, Bakir told him to send another ₹28 lakh, promising that he would get double the total amount. Realising it was a scam, the man filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Portal.

Based on this, a case was registered at the Alappuzha Station and cops found that money was sent to Bakir’s bank account, from which he withdrew it using a cheque. Although a police team reached Kondotty in August to search for the accused, he had switched off his phone and fled to Bengaluru. The team led by Sub-Inspector S V Shyjulal continued to monitor his movements. Further investigation revealed that Bakir was involved in several similar fraud cases and that the Thiruvananthapuram Rural Cyber Crime Police had already issued a lookout circular against him in another case. Following this, he was arrested at Nedumbassery Airport and remanded to judicial custody at the Thiruvananthapuram District Jail. The Alappuzha Police later took custody of him from there following a court order.

Another accused in the case, Satyanarayana, a native of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, who is currently under remand in Puzhal Central Jail, will be produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Alappuzha.

The investigation team included Sub-Inspectors Sarathchandran V S and Shyjulal SV, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ajayakumar M, and CPOs Akhil R and Ajith A M. The police said further investigation is underway, focusing on IP addresses and monitoring bank accounts linked to the fraud.