Doctor among 9 held as J-K police expose Rs 209 crore investment scam

Srinagar, Feb 16: Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday said it has unearthed a 209-crore Rupees fake online investment scam in Ganderbal district, with the amount likely to cross Rs 400 crore. Nine persons, including an MBBS doctor from Haryana, have been arrested for allegedly using phishing and fake trading platforms to dupe victims, officials said.

In an official statement, a police spokesperson said that based upon complaint lodged by Sh. Firdous Ahmad Mir S/O Mohd Yousuf Mir R/O Safapora Ganderbal, FIR No. 08/2026 u/s 3(5), 61(2), 316 (4), 318, 111 BNS, 66-C IT Act was registered at Police Station Ganderbal to investigate the allegations of identity theft and cheating by a gang of online fraudsters. In this regard, SSP Ganderbal Shri Khalil Ahmad Poswal-JKPS constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and associated subject matter experts as part of the team.

The statement said that strenuous efforts of the Police in terms of collection of evidences by way of arrest of suspects, house searches, record from Banks and other departments revealed that there are online investment websites on social media/google like paisavault.com etc. which by way of allurement deceive/cheat the general public and once the victims start investing into the fake platform of coins trading, their amount is diverted into local bank accounts of persons hailing from Budgam, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla and multiple other places.

All such accounts are under control of fraudsters who immediately transfer invested amount into other accounts outside Jammu and Kashmir by way of multiple layering and even outside the country so as to prevent detection of trail of money, it reads.

Police identified the main handler of the entire nexus as Mr. Ekant Yogdutt @ Dr. Morphine R/O Hisar Haryana who has learnt these techniques while doing MBBS degree in Philippines and has multiple links with Chinese nationals.

The main team leader conspired with mischievous elements of Kashmir region viz. Mohd Ibrahim Shah @ Yawer R/O Ganderbal, Nasir Ahmad Ganie S/O Abdul Hamid Ganie R/O Ganderbal, Maqsood Ahmad @ Dr. Albert R/O Budgam, Tanveer Ahmad @ Dr. Martin R/O Budgam, Tawseef Ahmad Mir (Govt. Teacher) R/O Baramulla, Khurshid Ahmad R/O Nunner, Ishfaq Ahmad R/O Safapora who worked as regional heads and account mobilizers. These local level fraudsters approach below poverty line (BPL) account holders for providing their account and ATM cards with the promise to provide the 8-10 thousand rupees per month. Involvement of Bank employees also emerged who are involved in providing QR code of accounts which are uploaded on fake websites, the statement reads.

These fraudsters have established telegram channels and groups where they regularly upload new QR codes. It is worth mentioning once heavy transactions occur into such accounts, upon receipt of complaint, the cyber units across the country freeze such accounts but the fraudsters promptly upload new QR codes, the spokesperson said.

So far Police have collected details of 835 accounts and verified transactions of 290 accounts wherein 209 crores have been received from various investors across India and upon complete verification the amount is likely to cross 400 crores, he added.

The spokesperson further said that the main accused Ekant Yogdutt @ Dr. Morphine has been arrested by Ganderbal Police while returning from China at International Airport Delhi and other 08 accused from various parts of Kashmir region. Further investigation being conducted to trace out trail of entire money and to attach property of accused persons.

Police have warned the general public not to fall prey to the fake websites who promise heavy returns and also not to rent out their bank accounts to any individual against the promise of meagre monetary consideration. The victims/aggrieved persons can lodge their complaint on the portal on cybercrime.gov.in and tollfree Number 1039.