New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) With the arrest of four persons, the Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a gang of cyber cheats who used to dupe victims by offering articles on discount by using fake websites created in the name of leading Company Montblanc Simplo GMBH.
The accused were identified as Hardeep Harnal (35), a resident of Mohali, Punjab; Himanshu Verma (27), a resident of Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh; Sharafat Ali (29), a resident of Ambala, Haryana; and Sagar Bagga (30), a resident of Rohini in Delhi.
According to police, recently Delhi High Court had referred many matters of TradeMarks and CopyRights violations pertaining to several leading firms and companies, including Montblanc Simplo GMBH to Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of Special Cell in which the imposters had created fake websites of the company to dupe gullible customers by offering huge discounts on company's articles including pens, belts, bags, etc.
"The matter was taken up for enquiry and during investigation, the team gathered technical information of the alleged websites and email Ids, bank details, etc., and scrutinized it and on the basis of technical investigation, the team identified and arrested four men," said Prashant Gautam, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO).
The DCP said that the alleged persons were using many fake websites, i.e., www.montblancindia.com, www.montblancindia.co, www.montblanc.co, which are similar to that of the complainant's website and were receiving hefty amount from the gullible victims in the name of providing the complainant company's products.
"Police have also recovered one laptop and five mobile phones, allegedly used by the accused persons in commission of offences. Further raids are being conducted to identify and arrest the accused persons in matters related to other firms also. Approximate cheated amount is more than Rs one crore," the DCP added.
The official added that a case was registered on September 25, 2020, against the private firm and others on the allegations of causing losses to the tune of Rs 2040.63 crore to the consortium of 12 banks led by PNB.
The CBI had registered a case on April 13, 2016 on the request of Chandigarh Administration and had taken over the investigation of the FIR earlier registered at Police Station, Sector-26, Chandigarh.
Bishnoi, who was brought from New Delhi after procuring the transit remand from Patiala House court, was produced in a Mansa court in Punjab at around 4 a.m. amid high-level security after his medical check-up.
The police have also recovered an illegal weapon and live cartridge from the criminal. The accused has been identified as Aakash, a native of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
The Punjab Police informed Delhi Police that the location of one of the phone numbers was traced to Delhi, and that the accused were changing their locations frequently. Acting on the tip-off, Delhi Police followed the leads obtained through technical surveillance and digital footprints.
