1 more banker held by Gurgaon cops for links with cyber fraudsters; 22nd arrest since Feb

Gurgaon: An assistant manager from a private bank's Lajpat Nagar branch was arrested on Friday for allegedly helping cybercriminals open a bank account to park fraudulently obtained funds.The city police have taken 22 bankers into custody since Feb for helping cyber fraudsters.Hailing from Shahpur Ratan village in UP's Bijnore, Harvinder Singh was employed at IndusInd Bank's Lajpat Nagar branch and live in Delhi's Khanpur, said ACP (cybercrime) Priyanshu Diwan.Cops detained Harvinder in Delhi on Wed. A case was registered against him on July 27 at the Cyber (east) police station on a complaint.A police officer said they received a complaint alleging a Rs 35.69-lakh fraud. The complainant transferred the money to a specified bank account after being enticed by promises of substantial stock market returns. A complaint was filed when the victim couldn't access the funds.The case was registered under BNS sections 318(4), 61(2), 336(2), 338, and 340(2), covering various offences, including cheating, conspiracy, and forgery.The investigation uncovered that the stolen funds were directed to a IndusInd Bank current account of a private firm under the name Vikram Shahi from Ghaziabad. On Nov 26, police arrested Vikram — a cook — and later arrested Yogendra Bhati from Ghaziabad on the same day based on Vikram's confession.Police revealed that Yogendra served as an intermediary, who persuaded Harvinder to create the bank account for a fictitious company using fraudulent documentation, including Vikram Shahi's identification and other false papers. Harvinder received Rs 30,000 in return. The group then shared the account information with a cyber fraudster.Following the confessions, Harvinder was arrested on Nov 27. While Vikram and Yogendra are under judicial custody in Bhondsi jail, Harvinder remains in police detention.The city police have arrested 22 bankers from Feb 2024 for aiding cyber fraudsters to open accounts.