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Fraud

Life Imprisonment for 9 Scammers in Notorious Cybercrime Case

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A Kalyani trial court in Nadia district, Bengal, has sentenced nine cyber scammers to life imprisonment for extorting Rs 1 crore from a Ranaghat resident by threatening him with "digital arrest" last year. The scamsters, arrested from Maharashtra, Haryana, and Gujarat, were part of a larger gang that allegedly amassed Rs 100 crore by cheating 108 people across India.

Key Takeaways:

  • The court held that cybercrimes were akin to "economic terrorism", a view shared by the prosecution.
  • The 9 convicts, including a woman, were part of a larger gang that operated in multiple states, using multiple bank accounts and phone numbers to siphon off money.
  • The police seized numerous passbooks, ATM cards, SIM cards, and mobile phones during the operation, and a detailed analysis of beneficiary accounts and phone numbers revealed the sophisticated network.
  • The chargesheet ran into 2,600 pages and 29 witnesses from four different states testified physically before the judge during the five-month trial.
  • The scamsters allegedly amassed Rs 100 crore by cheating 108 people across India, with the possibility of facing trials elsewhere in the country.
  • Kalyani additional sessions judge Suberthi Sarkar sentenced the nine to life imprisonment under BNS 338, which involves forging of documents, and 10 other offences under both BNS and the Information Technology Act.
  • The defence has indicated that they would appeal against the conviction in the High Court.

Statistics:

  • Rs 1 crore extorted from a Ranaghat resident by threatening him with "digital arrest" last year.
  • Rs 100 crore allegedly amassed by the scamsters by cheating 108 people across India.
  • 9 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment, including a woman.
  • 29 witnesses from four different states testified physically before the judge during the five-month trial.
  • 10 other offences under both BNS and the Information Technology Act.
  • 2,600 pages of the chargesheet.

Sources:

  • ??With long delay in hundreds of NIA cases, SC tells Centre, Maha to set up new NIA courts , says dont designate existing ones as spl courts
  • Setback for Lalu ahead of polls as SC refuses to stay trial in land-for-job scam cases
  • Times of India reporter

Note: The original article does not explicitly mention the date of the sentencing or publication date, so I have not included any dates in the output.

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