Muhammed Shahil P vs State Of Kerala

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking regular bail.

The applicant is the accused No.17 in Crime No.5/2024 of Cyber Crime Police Station, Pathanamthitta District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 420 and 120B r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The prosecution case, in short, is that for the period between 15.11.2023 and 07.02.2024, on different occasions, the applicant and the other accused persons had grabbed a sum of Rs.3,45,11,574/- from the defacto complainant, by playing fraud on him and thereby committed the offences.

I have heard Smt.Dhanya S. Nair, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.Thomas Sabu Vadakekut, the learned Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

The applicant was remanded to judicial custody on 29.09.2026. A perusal of the case diary would reveal that the accusation against the applicant is very serious, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on his part. During the course of investigation it is revealed that the scamming firm, which is having its central office at Cambodia, collected the personal details of Indian nationals through various fake dating apps, Instagram accounts, WhatsApp groups etc. They tactically collected the personal interests like hobbies, financial potential etc. of various persons through these mechanisms and lured them to invest in Indian stock market by promising to get huge profit. They conducted classes on share trading, provided books of famous authors on Indian share trading and gave petty gifts like earpods, iron boxes etc. with a fraudulent intention to establish a strong bond with financially potential customers. The scammers started inducing financially potential customers to trade with small amounts and giving small profits which lead the customers to invest more and more. As and when they started trading with huge amounts, the scammers started their game not to return the money by imposing flimsy reasons. The money deposited by the victims were withdrawn through the bank accounts of the accused Nos.1, 2, 5 to 10 and 13 to 16. The investigation conducted so far including the confession statement of the accused No.11 reveals that he collected more than Rs.2 crores from other accused persons out of the defrauded amount and handed over the same to the applicant. It is also revealed that the defrauded money was transferred through hawala. Moreover, the applicant has criminal antecedents. He is involved in another crime of similar nature. Considering the nature of the crime, the gravity of the offence, the complicity of the applicant in it, and the facts and circumstances mentioned above, I am of the view that the applicant cannot be released on bail at this stage. The bail application, accordingly, is dismissed.