Cybercrime destroying social and economic fabric of society: Court

NEW DELHI: Cybercrime is destroying the social and economic fabric of society, a Delhi court said while dismissing anticipatory bail pleas of three men accused of online fraud. Special Judge Rajesh Malik rejected the pre-arrest bail applications of Ankit Jain, Amardeep Sharma and Arihant Jain, booked by the CBI for criminal conspiracy, cheating and offences under the Information Technology Act. In an order dated January 8, the court said it would be reluctant to grant anticipatory bail where allegations are linked to cybercrime.

It noted that the investigation was at a nascent stage, the number of victims was unknown, and custodial interrogation might be required. The FIR alleged that a private firm procured 7,721 SIM cards using false end-user details, which were used to impersonate officials, make fraudulent calls and send phishing links, causing citizens to lose sensitive personal information.