Kalyani (WB), Jul 17 (PTI) A sub-divisional court here on Thursday convicted nine members of an inter-state gang in a 'digital arrest' cyber fraud case.

The convicts – four from Maharashtra, three from Haryana and two from Gujarat – were found guilty of duping a retired agricultural scientist of nearly Rs 1 crore.

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The Kalyani court judge pronounced all the nine accused persons guilty under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

The court will pronounce its sentence on Friday.

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The victim had lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police station at Kalyani under West Bengal's Ranaghat police district on November 6, 2024.

The victim had stated that he was coerced by fraudsters posing as officials into transferring money to the tune of nearly Rs 1 crore in various bank accounts after being put under 'digital arrest' by them, Additional SP (headquarters), Ranaghat police district, Siddharth Dhapola, said.

Acting on the complaint, police launched a month-long operation and arrested the convicts from different states.

A large number of mobile phones, bank documents, PAN cards and cheque books were seized during the operation, Dhapola said.

The racket has international links, and the kingpin is believed to be based in a Southeast Asian country, police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)