Karnataka: Cops find 60% of money stolen by online cheats

VIJAYAPURA: Cybercrime police in Vijayapura district have been successful in recovering Rs 24.5 lakh of a total of nearly Rs 40 lakh stolen by online fraudsters till date in 2022. Vijayapura superintendent of police, HD Anand Kumar on Wednesday said that 31 cybercrime cases had been filed in the district in the nine months of this year.
"A team headed by deputy superintendent of police (District Crime Records' Bureau) JS Nyamagoudar, and cybercrime, economics, and narcotics (CEN) wing inspector Ramesh Avaji was constituted to solve these cases. The team, acted with alacrity, and ensured that all the 31 victims received some of the money that was stolen."
Of the 31 cybercrime cases registered, 11 accounted for a cumulative loot of Rs 29 lakh, of which "we managed to retrieve Rs 15.3 lakh, which was to returned to the victims," the SP said. "Besides crimes filed at the stations, 10 cases were filed on the Union ministry of home affairs' National Cyber Crime Portal Helpline within an hour of the theft. In all, a sum of Rs 6.2 lakh was stolen, of which we recovered Rs 4.5 lakh," Anand Kumar said.
Although no individual has been arrested in any of these cases, police had been successful in recovering a large portion of the money, the SP said.
"The recovered money was credited to the bank accounts of the victims," said Anand Kumar, adding that cash rewards had been announced for cops who had acted post-haste to help the victims get the money stolen from them.