Jaipur, June 18 (IANS) In a major breakthrough, Baran Cyber Police have arrested Chandramohan Vaishnav (40), son of Babulal, resident of Ganeshpura from the Hathoj area on Sirsi Road, Jaipur on Wednesday.

Vaishnav, the mastermind behind a massive pan-India cyber fraud racket worth over Rs 3 crore, had been absconding for the past three years, said officials.

Baran SP Rajkumar Chaudhary, briefing the media, said that the case first came to light on May 17, 2023, following a complaint by Pintu Rathore, a resident of Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.

Rathore alleged that Vaishnav, through fake companies Vaishnav Infratech and Bids Bazaar, lured him into a truck purchase scam via Facebook, cheating him out of Rs 4 lakh under the pretext of a token amount and documentation.

Investigations revealed that Vaishnav’s gang operated by falsely advertising bank-defaulter commercial vehicles at low prices on Facebook. Using websites such as Bidsbazaar.com, Turbo24.com, Quickhot Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Vaishnav Associates, they solicited token payments via UPI for vehicle visits and then demanded 75 per cent of the total price under the guise of insurance, fitness, and registration.

Once the amount was paid, the victim’s number was blocked and contact was severed. Despite being on the run, Vaishnav continued operations by frequently changing mobile numbers, SIM cards, and locations. A Rs 25,000 reward was announced for his arrest. Three of his accomplices — Anil Vaishnav, Jagdish Bairagi, and Premnarayan Vaishnav — had already been arrested earlier.

Police investigations have so far uncovered over 20 registered FIRs against Vaishnav and his associates across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and other states. More than 100 complaints have also been lodged against them on the Cyber Crime Complaint Portal.

The gang had been active since 2011. Vaishnav’s arrest was made possible through technical surveillance and tracking. Preliminary interrogation suggests he defrauded people of nearly Rs 3 crore, with many payments traced through Facebook interactions and linked bank accounts.

Authorities are now examining these bank records to identify further incidents and victims across other states.

–IANS

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