P.Selvaraj v. The State Rep By Its,

T.V.THAMILSELVI, J.

The petitioner, who apprehends arrest for the alleged offence punishable under Sections 66(D) of Information Technology Act read with Sections 34, 419 & 420 of IPC in Crime No.2 of 2023 on the file of the respondent police, seeks anticipatory bail.

2. The case of the prosecution is that when the de-facto complainant with an intention to invest money in Bit coin, searched for online platform, he came across the AD related to Wazirix (Cryptocurrency exchange Platform) in Facebook and contacted the contact number mentioned in the said Ad. During the call, the person on the other end introduced himself as Manoj, Manager of Wazirix and explained the investment process and persuaded the de-facto complainant to deposit a sum of Rs.15,00,000/-. Believing the words of the accused persons, the de-facto complainant paid the said amount. However, after payment of the said amount, the accused persons disconnected their contact with the de-facto complainant. Thereafter, he came to know that the petitioner herein along with other accused persons have deceived a lot of persons all over Tamil Nadu to invest 1/4

in their company under the pretext of huge returns. Hence, this complaint.

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is an innocent person and has not committed any offence as alleged by the prosecution. He further submitted that the petitioner has no idea about Bit coin and the petitioner is the neighbour of the other accused persons and due to previous enmity, he has been falsely implicated in this case, based on the false confession made by the co-accused. He furthermore submitted that, none of the alleged phone numbers mentioned in the FIR belongs to the petitioner. Hence, he prays for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

4. Learned Government Advocate(Crl.Side) submits that the petitioner is the prime accused and he is the mastermind behind the execution of the offence and he colluded with other accused persons and instructed them to execute the same. He further submitted that, more than Rs.5 Crores is involved in this case and not only the petitioner but also his wife and daughter were also involved in the offence and have collected the amount deposited by the innocent common persons. He furthermore submitted that, 2/4

there are several other cases pending against the petitioner and other accused persons. Hence, he vehemently raised objections for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

5. On perusal of the materials placed on records reveal that, the petitioner along with other accused persons under the guise of Cryptocurrency exchange Platform gave false promises to several innocent persons and made them to invest a huge sum of amount in Bit coin (Crypto currency) with a pretext of huge returns and deceived them. Further, as the case needs a detailed investigation, since the amount involved in the case is more than Rs.5 Crores, and there is no change of circumstances, this Court is not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

6. Accordingly, this Criminal original petition stands dismissed. 05.04.2023 rri 3/4

T.V.THAMILSELVI,J.

rri 05.04.2023 4/4