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Hyderabad: At least three people were duped of Rs 30 lakh in an investment fraud in Hyderabad via WhatsApp and Telegram recently.
According to the Cyberabad cybercrime unit, in April 2025, the 39-year-old complainant was lured into joining an investment platform after receiving a link on Telegram. After being persuaded, the complainant joined the platform in the name of sand paper company.
The accused were identified as Sulalit Bishwas and Arpan, both from Kolkata, along with Basavaraj Hirole and Sikandar of Karnataka, and Venkata Bhupati Raju and Venkata Narasimha Rao Meda of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
All of them were promoters of the scheme. “The platform, accessed through the Telegram channel Pluto Project, promised safe investments, large profits and foreign junket,” the victim said in his complaint.
Trusting the fraudsters, Sridhar invested Rs 4.91 lakh in two transactions on April 30 and May 5, 2025. His wife added another Rs 17.2 lakh on May 5, and his friend invested Rs 8.36 lakh on April 29, bringing the total investment from the group to Rs 30.47 lakh.
The complainant took a personal loan to invest. Within two months, Sridhar alleged, all six suspects stopped responding to calls and messages. The victims failed to withdraw the funds, and the fraudsters later disabled the Telegram channel.
Realising he had been defrauded, the complainant approached the Cybercrime police station of Cyberabad along with bank transfer records and chat logs on March 18.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 340(2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), read with 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act.
This post was last modified on March 20, 2026 8:42 am