ABDUL ASIF Vs. STATE OF GOA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application for regular bail. The allegations against the Applicant/Accused are for offences alleged to have been committed under Sec. 318(4), 319(2) r/w Sec. 3(5) of the BNS 2023 and under Sec. 66B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended under the Amendment Act of 2008.

(2.) A complaint came to be filed on 30/9/2024 alleging that the Complainant had come across an advertisement on the social media Facebook page enticing investors to learn how to invest on the stock market. According to the complaint, the modus operandi of fraud committed by certain accused named therein, which do not include the name of the Applicant, was stated; the Complainant alleged that investors such as the Complainant had invested sums of money by transferring the same to the account of the Accused on the lure that they would achieve targets of 500% profit within three months. The complaint alleges that the Accused stated therein had thus indulged in online cheating, including by impersonation, with common intent, and in breach of the provisions of the Information Technology Act, by using the Internet as a platform for such a device.

(3.) It is further the case of the State that on this complaint, an FIR came to be registered under No.50/2024 by the Cyber Crime Police Station, and on the basis of investigation, on 3/11/2024, the Cyber Crime team proceeded to Bangalore in search of some of the suspects involved in the crime, and Accused - Kumar Utlasar was arrested on 6/11/2024, who disclosed that the present Applicant, and his friend, along with their associates had taken his bank credentials and operated his bank account for fraudulent transactions involved in this crime. That thereafter, the present Applicant was located and was arrested on 13/11/2024 and remanded to five days of Police custody.