2 conmen arrested from Tamil Nadu for duping salt lake sisters in investment fraud
Times of India | 27 July 2025
KOLKATA: Two conmen were arrested from Tamil Nadu in connection with an investment fraud where a Salt Lake-based woman was duped of Rs 1.3 crores in February this year.
According to the complaint lodged at the cyber crime police station, Sreyoshi Pal (38), a resident of FE Block in Salt Lake, and her elder sister Sayantani Chakraborty were duped by the conmen over a period of days. According to the FIR, the fraud began in October 2024, when Pal came into contact with one "Ali Vikas" via WhatsApp, who introduced her to a platform called Stonewall Capital for trading and wealth management.
After initially investing Rs 9.9 lakhs, Pal received small returns that encouraged her to recommend the platform to her sister. Sayantani Chakraborty later transferred around Rs 1.2 crore across 12 transactions. When the fraudster demanded more money, the sisters realised they were cheated. The sisters also submitted their grievances on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, which led to the registration of the case.
Probing into the case, police arrested Venkatesan Dharuman (43) and Devan M (35) from a hotel on Acharapakkam Road in Vandavasi, Tamil Nadu. “Both of them are residents of Agarakorakottai village in Tiruvannamalai district. During the arrest, we seized multiple documents from their possession. The stolen money was deposited into the bank accounts of these two persons. The funds were later withdrawn through self-issued cheques,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police.
The men were brought to Kolkata on transit remand on Sunday, and on being produced before a Salt Lake court, they were remanded to police custody. “We will interrogate them further to trace the main accused and identify others linked to the fraud network,” said the officer.