Four men from Gujarat travelled to Goa looking for work and opportunities; instead, they found themselves behind bars in Mumbai after being caught in a police raid linked to an alleged network of mule bank accounts and online betting.
Nearly two months later on September 29, a Mumbai court granted them bail, observing that no specific role in the alleged cyber fraud had been attributed to them.
[popcorn number="Aug 5" desc="Day they were arrested" class="Default"]
The four — Rambhai Jagbhai Mundava, Rudra Mahendrabhai Macchor, Raj Alpeshbhai Wala, and Hardik Kishorbhai Vadhera — were arrested on August 5 by the Crime Branch officials following an FIR registered against them by the Pydhonie police.
According to the defence version, the four had travelled to Goa looking for opportunities when they came into contact with people allegedly facilitating illegal online betting through mule bank accounts. The four, along with others, were arrested during a police raid in Goa.
The prosecution opposed their bail, alleging that the accused were involved in procuring and supplying mule bank accounts and SIM cards which were routed through persons based abroad and allegedly used for online gaming and cyber fraud.
Defence vs prosecution
According to the prosecution case recorded in the bail orders, the accused were found with bank account details and transaction information relating to online fraud. It was alleged that the bank details were used along with SIM cards and that accounts were subsequently opened in the names of different companies and used for fraudulent transactions.
It was also alleged that account holders were paid '30,000 for each bank account provided for such use. The defence, meanwhile, argued that the four had been falsely implicated and claimed that they had no criminal antecedents, were permanent residents of Gujarat, and that their custodial interrogation was not required.
The order
The magistrate found that the case against these four applicants stood on a different footing. “The investigating officer has objected to the application on the ground of cyber fraud and allegations of use of the account for cheating purposes and noted the involvement of the present accused; however, there are no allegations against the accused that they committed cyber fraud against any individual,” the September 29 order stated.
Lawyer Speak
According to Mahesh Vinod Rajpopat, who represented the four, neither were their names mentioned in the FIR, nor was any specific role attributed to them. “They were not even named as beneficiaries in the alleged transactions. Despite this, they were arrested in connection with the case,” said advocate Mahesh Vinod Rajpopat, who represented the accused.
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