A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday denied bail to a 19-year-old student in a Rs 3.7 crore cyber fraud case, saying he used his knowledge to facilitate the crime and his release may hamper the probe. Special CBI Judge BY Phad, while delivering the order, said, “The case prima facie involves a transnational racket with a sophisticated modus operandi, including the use of foreign phone numbers and the routing of crime proceeds through multiple mule accounts.”
The offence appears to have been committed in a well-organised manner, the court stressed. Yash Thakur, a Std XII student from Nagpur, was arrested on July 9. The main accused in the case, Bhaskar Palande, allegedly defrauded and cheated innocent persons and firms of Rs 3.76 crore through cyber fraud methods like digital arrests, customs fraud, and online financial fraud.
Palande had opened a mule account, in which an amount of Rs 3.76 crore, being proceeds of crime, was transferred in a single day, the CBI said. He is currently in judicial custody. The CBI submitted that Thakur procured a new SIM card for Palande, received part of the crime proceeds and generally assisted in the transfer of funds and operation.
The crime is a high-value cyber network fraud with a transnational dimension, where co-accused were communicating on foreign phone numbers and money is being routed to foreign countries, it said. Thakur, in his plea, claimed to be innocent and said he had been falsely implicated in the case. There is absolutely no cogent evidence in the charge sheet to establish his role in the crime, the plea said, adding he had no connection with Palande.
The court, after hearing both sides, held that Thakur’s acts “demonstrate a deeper inculpatory involvement as an active member of a criminal conspiracy rather than merely being a passive facilitator or a victim of circumstances”. The special judge stressed that the release of the applicant, an educated youth who allegedly used his knowledge to facilitate the crime, poses an imminent threat of alerting the yet to be apprehended conspirators.
“He may severely hamper the tracing of the crime proceeds. Therefore, until a more conclusive part of the further investigation, particularly concerning the electronic evidence and foreign links, is complete, it would be detrimental to the ends of justice to grant bail,” the court said.
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