Online fraud sees offline drama as Haryana cops pick up youth from Gadag village

GADAG: It was 12 noon on Friday. The sleepy village of Savadi was all quiet. Suddenly there was commotion. The villagers were jolted out of their wits when they witnessed something straight out of a movie. Four persons who came in a car, forcibly picked up a youth and sped away — not before waving their pistols at the villagers, who came to stop them. The four were actually the police.

Later, the villagers came to know that the youth, Rajahussain Sotnal, was taken by the police of Haryana state for his alleged involvement in an online fraud case. The villagers were stunned by the swift operation of the police.

There was action and drama too before Rajahussain was nabbed. The Haryana police in mufti arrived at Ron on Friday noon and called Rajahussain telling him they had come to offer him money for an online prize he had won. He told them to come near a temple in the village. When he went to the spot, the police asked his details and suddenly pushed him inside the car.

The villagers soon gheraoed the vehicle, but the police zoomed off.  The villagers didn’t know that Rajahussain had allegedly committed a crime that brought the police from a faraway state to nab him here. The police sources said that he was involved in a cybercrime. 

‘Youth was getting money from unknown sources’

Rajahussain, 28, is a BSc graduate from Savadi village of Ron taluk. He has been getting money from unknown persons for the last one year and it is not known how and why he has been receiving it. According to Rajahussain’s family sources, he has been getting money from an unknown source and he was asked to share the OTP number every time he received a call.

On Friday evening, the Haryana police took him in their car for further investigation to Gadag town police station. However, Gadag police were tight-lipped.  When the villagers wanted to know where they were taking Rajahussain, all that the police told them was that they would reveal everything only after the completion of the probe.

Rajahussain’s brother said, “We have all along suspected that the unknown persons had an account in my brother’s name and were doing cyber crimes. Now, my brother has been caught and the fraudsters have gone scot-free.” Raju Patil, a villager, said, “When the Haryana police came to Savadi police station, we all went there. They were talking in Hindi. We understood that Rajahussain was allegedly involved in an online fraud case and the Haryana police came here after tracking his mobile. We are curious to know what it is.”