Pak-based KBC lottery scam busted, eight Indians caught

A gang operating from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has allegedly been duping people claiming that they had won a ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ lottery worth Rs 20-30 lakh.

The victims were lured over telephone calls in which they were told to deposit some money in a bank account to release the lottery amount, police said on Monday.

“The money was being siphoned to criminals based in Pakistan through hawala channels. There was every probability that this money could get diverted to anti-India activities,” said Rajiv Ranjan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell). Eight persons in India have so far been arrested and Rs 4.1 lakh in cash has been recovered.

Police said the Special Cell had been tracking inputs received from central agencies about the operations of the gang. To identify the India-based accomplices, a special team was also deployed and technical surveillance was mounted.

“The team managed to ascertain that Pakistan-based criminals were luring Indians into their trap by pretending to be calling on behalf of call centers associated with reputed brands and programs, the current favorite being Kaun Banega Crorepati,” Ranjan added.

The gang informed people that they had won a lottery based on the selection of their mobile phone number in a random draw and the prize money would be paid on the sets of KBC. The tele-callers would direct them to another Pakistani number on the pretext that he was being connected to the lottery processing unit.

The victim would then be called up to pay a percentage amount of the lottery for processing the claim. The gang would give an Indian bank account to the victim to deposit the processing fee and as soon as the money was deposited, it would be withdrawn by an Indian accomplice.

“The victims had nothing else to bring on record apart from a couple of Pakistani phone numbers and an Indian bank account,” Ranjan said. On October 13, in pursuance of investigations, raids were conducted at various places in Delhi and Umer Ali, Rakesh Raut and Ahmad Hussain were arrested.

During further investigation, two more accused Vikas Kumar Sah and Saroj Kanta Sutar were arrested when they came to Delhi. Three hawala operators Mahendra Kumar Singhal, Naresh Bansal and Ravi Kumar Gupta were arrested. They were a part of the network through which the cheated money was being sent to Pakistan via Saudi Arabia.