6 Held As Bengaluru Police Bust Rs 854 Cr Cyber Investment Fraud Racket

Bemngaluru Cyber Investment Fraud: The accused had alleged that the victims would earn Rs 1,000 to 5,000 per day based on their investment. 

The accused reportedly lured victims through WhatsApp and Telegram by insisting them to invest small amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000.  ( Image Source :Freepik )

The Bengaluru police arrested six persons and busted a Rs 854 crore cyber fraud scam through which thousand of victims were allegedly cheated across India in the name of investment. The police have till now recovered Rs 5 crore out of the total cheated amount. The accused reportedly lured victims through WhatsApp and Telegram by insisting them to invest small amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. 

The accused had alleged that the victims would in turn earn Rs 1,000 to 5,000 per day for their investment, a senior police officer told PTI. 

The six accused were identified as Manoj, Panindra, Chakradhar, Shrinivas, Somashekar and Vashanth from Bengaluru. 

Addressing a press conference, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said, "The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has been successful in detecting the "very interesting" cyber crime fraud case in which the criminals have cheated certain individuals by luring them at high rates of interest for the money they deposited."

"The cheated amount of Rs 854 crore has been transacted by the accused to 84 different bank accounts. Out of the total cheated amount, Rs five crore has been frozen," he said.

Karnataka Promulgates Ordinance To Impose 28% Tax On Online Gaming

The Karnataka government promulgated an ordinance to amend the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax Act to impose 28 per cent GST for online gaming on Friday. The additional tax will also be collected for racecourses as well as casinos. However, the ordinance will be implemented only after approval from Governor Thawarchand Gehlot. 

According to IANS, Commissioner for Commercial Taxes, C. Shikha said with the implementation, Karnataka is expected to get Rs 1,500 crore in revenue. 

Karnataka took the ordinance route since the state Legislature was not in session. 

The state government's action comes before the proposed adoption of the tax regime by the Central government starting on October 1.

Sources said that the charging of additional taxes won’t legitimise betting and criminal activity with the betting activities will be dealt with criminal prosecution.

Earlier, the Central government had directed the states to pass the ordinance in assemblies or promulgate the ordinance by September 30 to implement 28 per cent GST on online gaming from October 1.