New Delhi, Sep 17 Observing that cybercrimes are increasing at an "exponential rate", a Delhi court has said such offences need to be dealt with a "strict hand".
The court denied bail to two men accused of allegedly facilitating a sextortion racket through their bank accounts.
Additional Sessions Judge Twinkle Wadhwa made the observations while dismissing the bail applications of Kunal and Rajesh, accused in an FIR registered by the Cyber Cell.
In an order dated September 15, the court said, "Paying the money will not wipe off the offence which has been committed. Needless to say that the complainant has received only part (of the) amount and not the entire amount. Cyber crimes are on the increase at an exponential rate and such offences need to be dealt with a strict hand."
The court noted that the bank accounts of both accused were involved in five other complaints registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) from different states, indicating that the case was not an isolated incident.
It also noted that the alleged victim had transferred money directly into their bank accounts in the first layer of transactions. The court said their claim that they were unaware of the alleged misuse of their accounts did not inspire confidence.
The investigating officer told the court that a video allegedly used to threaten the complainant in the sextortion case had been deleted by him out of fear. The police also said a SIM card linked to Rajesh's bank account was recovered from him and he was receiving messages regarding credits and debits in the account.
The counsel of the accused argued that there was no evidence to show that they had telephoned the complainant for extortion and also that the alleged video had not been recovered. It was also submitted that the investigation was complete and the chargesheet had already been filed.
The defence further claimed that the accused had handed over the money received in their accounts to the complainant and were unaware of other transactions.
The court, however, said that even if Rs 70,000 transferred into Rajesh's account and Rs 1.65 lakh transferred into Kunal's account had been returned to the complainant, such payment would not wipe off the offence.
The court, considering the evidence available against the accused, declined to grant them bail and dismissed both applications.
