NEW DELHI: Their plan was audacious, modus operandi professional and inspiration crystal clear. This group of alleged cyber criminals in the city weren’t just running a con job, they were staging a real-life version of their favourite TV series, Money Heist, even taking on aliases from characters of the Netflix thriller.So, Arpit Mishra adopted the mantle of the cerebral mastermind of the series and was known to his gang as “professor”. Working under him were key people executing crucial day-to-day operations. Prabhat Vajpayee, who holds a master’s degree in computers and used to manage digital communications and perhaps the flow of illicit funds, used the alias, Amanda. Functioning alongside him was Abbas Khan aka Berlin, a core player ensuring the gang kept running smoothly.

With the chilling precision of career criminals, the gang duped around 200 people of Rs 50 crore through a fake online trading scheme. According to special CP (law and order) Ravindra Yadav, the operation, code-named Direct Market Account, was an almost perfect digital deception. Posing as elite financial brokers, the syndicate used to lured the targets into their complex web, first securing their faith by making them part of an “exclusive” WhatsApp group that promised privileged market tips. “The setup was elaborate: a fake trading platform, phantom shares and the promise of massive returns — a perfect illusion created to secure maximum gains. Funds of unsuspected people were swiftly transferred before the gang locked their accounts, freezing their money and then demanding a fresh ransom under the threat that they would otherwise have to forfeit their entire investment,” a cop said. This virtual heist, however, came to a sudden halt as police got hot on the gang’s trail following a flurry of complaints, and arrested the three suspects. Investigation began when one Rohit filed a case after being duped of Rs 22 lakh. The fraudsters, masquerading as representatives of a reputed financial firm, had lured him into their web. “The cyber crime team of northeast district comprising inspector Rahul Kumar and others pieced together the digital trail, arresting Vajpayee (22) and Khan (24). Mishra (25) was tracked down to Siliguri in West Bengal and nabbed,” said DCP (northeast) Ashish Mishra. The cops recovered 14 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards, and 32 debit cards from the three, showcasing the scale of their operation. A manhunt is on to nab other members of the syndicate.