A 20-year-old man residing in a secure gated community in Gurugram’s Sector 82 has been apprehended by the authorities for involvements in operating a cybercrime network for a Chinese syndicate, as per police reports unveiled on Monday.
The suspect, identified as Harsh Singh, hailing from Koshali village in Rewari, was taken into custody after a raid was conducted at his residence in Vatika India Next, as mentioned by the police. Singh, a high school graduate with a passion for online gaming, purportedly established connections with Chinese cybercriminals through dark web channels over two years ago. Since then, he allegedly served as a crucial intermediary, aiding in the laundering of significant sums of money pilfered from cybercrime victims by converting the funds into cryptocurrency and transferring them to collaborators in China, according to law enforcement officials.
“He would gather newly-opened bank account kits, consisting of debit cards, checkbooks, and associated SIM cards, from agents scattered across the nation,” explained a senior police officer. “Once cybercrime syndicates transferred funds into these accounts, Singh would utilize the money to purchase cryptocurrencies at discounted rates on the dark web, subsequently vending them at a profit to his Chinese accomplices,” the officer elaborated.
Investigators disclosed that Singh earned commissions amounting to up to ₹1 crore by facilitating these transactions. The police recovered two gold bars, a gold chain, five mobile phones, a laptop, 11 checkbooks, 47 debit/credit cards, and 46 SIM cards from his living space in Sector 82, where he lived solo and incurred a rent of ₹30,000.
The encrypted nature of Telegram added to the complexity of tracing Singh’s broader network, noted officials. “An extensive probe is in progress to identify additional suspects,” stated Sandeep Kumar, the public relations officer of Gurugram Police.
“Though he hailed from modest beginnings – with his father managing a small inverter battery store in Rewari – he harbored a keen interest in online gaming and stock trading,” the officer mentioned. Singh purportedly engaged in interactions within 20-30 Telegram groups, liaising with both Chinese contacts and Indian agents who supplied him with bank kits.
Police elaborated that Singh would dispose of flagged account kits and utilize shopping malls and public spots as drop-off locations for receiving couriered parcels. Following his court appearance, Singh was remanded to judicial custody on Sunday. An FIR under Section 318(4) (pertaining to cheating and deceitfully inducing property delivery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been filed at the Cybercrime police station in Manesar.