Amir Khan, the prime suspect in an online fraud involving a phone gaming application named e-Nuggets, was arrested from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on Friday night.
A Kolkata police team arrested Khan from Block C-4, Olive Country, Sector-V, Vasundhara, under the jurisdiction of Indirapuram police station.
A few weeks ago, the Enforcement Directorate had seized allegedly more than Rs 17 crore in connection with the same case amid allegations that Kolkata police had taken no action despite a complaint being lodged with Park Street police station more than a year ago.
“Amir Khan has been arrested in connection with a case registered with Park Street police station in February 2021 under sections of cheating, fraud, forgery, common intention,” said an officer of Kolkata police’s detective department, which made the arrest on Friday.
A parallel case has been drawn by the ED, based on which the central agency had made the seizure from Khan’s house at Garden Reach earlier this month.
ED officers could not arrest Khan on the day of the seizure.
Kolkata police officers said e-Nuggets was a gaming application that could be downloaded from the Internet and prompts its users to keep their money in the app to get a commission on the deposit.
“The app would offer lucrative returns and a high rate of commission for those who would invest in the app. It is a type of e-wallet where one can deposit money. The commission would depend on the amount kept in the app,” said an officer.
Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal said Khan had been arrested in connection with the case lodged with Park Street.
Asked why the police could not arrest him earlier, Goyal said: “Earlier the case was with the police station. But recently it has been taken over by the detective department which has been able to make the arrest. It is a technical subject and DD has better knowledge on this.”
Khan was produced before Bankshall court on Saturday.
The public prosecutor said according to the complaint lodged by a bank at least 147 fraudulent accounts were opened in the bank.
“In all the 147 bank accounts which were opened using fake documents, Khan was the introducer,” said the public prosecutor.
The money from all 147 accounts was then transferred into five accounts which were then sent abroad, he added.
Khan’s lawyer, however, said his client was not involved in any cheating.
“My client is the proprietor of a firm that has nothing to do with e-nuggets. He has been framed. If so many people have been cheated, where are their complaints?” the defence lawyer said.
On September 10, Khan’s house at Garden Reach was raided following which the ED seized the cash and in Khan’s absence, detained his father and brother.
Both were released early the next morning.
The court remanded Khan in police custody till October 7.