Ratanada police in Jodhpur arrested a local gang which defrauded people using online gaming. The police arrested three youths while one escaped during the raid at a hotel on Shiv Mandir Road.
This is probably the first-ever case of fraud in Rajasthan that comes under the IT Act. Satyaprakash, the station officer, said they received complaints about the scams and information about the people involved staying in a hotel. The police detained three people in the hotel room while one was able to escape them.
During the raid police also found 24 grams of opium from their car which belonged to Manish Khileri. The three arrested were Dinesh Bishnoi, Suresh Bishnoi and Krishna Kumar. The fourth person Vikram Bishnoi fled from the spot.
A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 against all the culprits who are caught and released on a bail bond. 23 mobile phones and lakhs of rupees were also seized in the raid.
According to the police, the members of the gang used KYC-approved bank accounts and downloaded a mobile gaming app that rewarded money for playing the games. After winning a game the amount was deposited in the bank accounts but they used to send a fake complaint from police claiming the winning amount was not deposited in the account. In this way, they received double payments on the winnings by exploiting refund mechanics and collecting lakhs of rupees in their accounts.
After Dinesh, Suresh and Krishna Kumar were released on bail they were again arrested for fraud and under relevant sections of the IT Act for faking police reports to scam people. This is probably the first case of someone scamming an online gaming company out of money.