Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court remanded Lakshay Vij to judicial custody on Monday following interrogation by the CBI in connection with a cryptocurrency cheating case. Vij was previously arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Nishant Garg ordered Lakshay Vij to remain in judicial custody until November 11, having been presented to the court after four days in CBI custody. “Since the investigation is at initial stages, for the purpose of fair and expeditious investigation and to prevent the accused from tampering with the evidence and influencing the witnesses, accused Lakshay Vij is remanded to judicial custody till November 11, 2024,” the court stated in its order.
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An application seeking 14 days of judicial custody was submitted by the investigation officer (IO). The court noted that the investigation has revealed a transnational racket of cyber criminals who defraud vulnerable foreign nationals by gaining unauthorized access to their computer systems and inducing them to transfer funds in cryptocurrency. “From the evidence gathered so far, the involvement of accused Lakshay Vij, in conspiracy with other accused persons, is prima facie clear,” the court observed.
While requesting the judicial remand, the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the CBI mentioned that during police custody, Lakshay Vij was confronted with incriminating material recovered from other accused individuals. He disclosed his connections with accused Prafful Gupta and Karan Chugh. The APP also stated that efforts to recover the mobile phone used by Vij in committing the offense had been unsuccessful and that the identity and whereabouts of other accused individuals are still unknown. To prevent the accused from influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence, judicial custody was deemed necessary.
On the other hand, Advocates Prabhav Ralli, Yuvraj Bansal, and Vanya Gupta, representing the accused, argued that the initial arrest was unlawful, which would invalidate all subsequent proceedings. They further contended that since Lakshay Vij is already in judicial custody for the ED case, there is no risk of him influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence.
After considering the submissions, the court noted that the production, arrest, and remand of the accused had not been contested to date. No bail application has been filed on behalf of the accused in this case.
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