First Additional District and Sessions Judge, Dakshina Kannada, H.S. Mallikarjuna Swamy granted bail to 23-year-old Madan Kumar alias Ayush Kumar, an accused in the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) fraud, on December 30.
Madan Kumar, a native of Araria district in Bihar, was among three persons arrested by Mangaluru police in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of ₹1 lakh between September 11 and 16 from the accounts of a couple from Mangaluru.
The accused have been charged with taking imprints of the finger prints of the couple from documents related to a property they had registered at the Manglauru sub-registrar’s office on September 1, 2023, and used them to withdraw money using AEPS. A case was registered by Cyber Economic and Narcotic Crime (CEN) police station for offences punishable under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
Subsequently, a total of 10 complaints were registered at the CEN police station against the accused for similar withdrawal of money ranging between ₹10,000 and ₹50,000.
A special team from Mangaluru arrested Madan Kumar, Deepak Kumar Hembram, 33, of Supaul in Bihar, and Vivek Kumar Biswas, 24, also from Bihar, on October 23, 2023.
On November 21, judge H.S. Mallikarjuna Swamy granted bail to Deepak Kumar Hembram on medial grounds after the latter reported that he has cancer and required palliative chemotherapy for three months.
On December 30, allowing the bail application of Madan Kumar, judge H.S. Mallikarjuna Swamy said the police have completed the investigation and had filed their final report on December 22. The offences alleged against Madan Kumar will be placed before a magistrate, and are not punishable with death or life imprisonment. The apprehension of the prosecution that the accused may threaten witnesses and hamper the progress of the trial can be taken care of by imposing suitable conditions, the judge said.
The judge ordered release of Madan Kumar after the latter executes a personal bond for ₹50,000 with two sureties for the like sum. Among the conditions imposed are a direction to Madan Kumar to furnish cash security of ₹25,000 and surrender his passport to the trial judge.
