- Anantapur police arrested a five-member gang in a major online investment fraud case
- Rs 41.20 lakh cash, phones, ATM cards, SIM cards, and other items were seized by police
- Victim Narasimhappa lost nearly Rs 1.74 crore after joining fake investment WhatsApp groups
The Anantapur police in Andhra Pradesh have arrested a five-member gang and seized a substantial haul of cash and electronic devices linked to a sophisticated online investment fraud.
Police officials said the operation, masterminded from Cambodia, is the largest cybercrime gang arrest in the district's history.
"This is the biggest cybercrime gang arrest in our district's history," said Anantapur Superintendent of Police P Jagadish.
"The money was being converted through a network of fake accounts in Delhi and prepared for transfer abroad via cryptocurrency. We have seized Rs 41.20 lakh in cash, eight mobile phones, a car, 20 ATM cards, 15 SIM cards, five bank passbooks, 10 cheque books, and two Wi-Fi routers," he said.
The arrests were made following an investigation into a complaint filed by Narasimhappa, a software engineer from Veparla, Rayadurgam Mandal. He said he lost nearly Rs 1.74 crore to the cyber fraudsters.
The investigation uncovered the gang's method of operation, which began with a Facebook post offering investment tips.
Narasimhappa was lured into WhatsApp groups operated from Cambodia, where he was instructed to use fake applications like "VIP66 Bajaj Investment" and "K26 Zerodha Market Insights".
After an initial investment of Rs 12 lakh, the gang allowed him to withdraw a fake profit of Rs 5.50 lakh to gain his trust. Believing the scheme was legitimate, Narasimhappa invested a total of over Rs 1.73 crore in a series of transactions between April 15 and May 14, 2025.
His suspicion was finally aroused when he was asked to pay a 40 per cent tax and brokerage fee to withdraw a purported profit of Rs 3.40 crore.
Police teams, acting on Narasimhappa's complaint, began a thorough investigation.
The probe revealed that the swindled funds were transferred to 13 fake bank accounts across the country.
The arrested suspects have been identified as Bhavanesh Goyal (48) from West Delhi; Dharmendra Singh (43) from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh; Sapireddy Kodandaram Durgasai Prasad (32) from Hyderabad, Telangana, and Kongati Krishna (43) and Vadlamudi Phanikumar (39), both from NTR district.
The police said a private bank manager who allegedly helped the gang's operations is expected to be arrested soon.
