Kolkata Police Raid Ex-Dunlop Owner Pawan Ruia in ₹317 Crore Online Fraud Case
Industrialist Pawan Ruia’s empire raided in massive online fraud.
In a major crackdown, the Cyber Crime Wing of West Bengal Police conducted extensive raids on Thursday at multiple properties belonging to prominent industrialist Pawan Ruia, unearthing evidence linking him to one of the largest online financial fraud operations in recent years, valued at approximately ₹317 crore.
The searches were carried out simultaneously at Ruia’s residences in Ballygunge and Park Circus, as well as his corporate offices on Park Street. Authorities recovered substantial incriminating material, including a large number of PAN cards, bank cheque books, passbooks, ten laptops, six mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers, external hard drives, and two high-capacity servers believed to contain critical data related to the fraudulent transactions.
The investigation originated from a complaint filed over a year ago by a retired bank officer from New Town at the Bidhannagar Cyber Police Station. Subsequent probes revealed that more than 1,379 individuals across West Bengal and other states had been defrauded through sophisticated online schemes operated via 148 shell companies allegedly controlled by Ruia and his associates.
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As per official records on the National Crime Reporting Portal, over 1,370 complaints have been registered against bank accounts linked to these dormant entities, with more than 100 victims based in West Bengal alone. Police have registered a suo motu case and are examining thousands of financial transactions to trace the complete money trail.
The development marks a significant fall for Pawan Ruia, the former owner of iconic industrial units Jessop & Co. and Dunlop India, both of which ceased operations years ago and were subsequently taken over by the West Bengal government. The ongoing investigation is expected to expand further as digital forensic analysis of the seized devices continues.
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