Eighteen Nepalese have already been arrested in connection with the case. (Representational)
One of the main accused in the hacking of a Nepalese bank account and swindling nearly Rs 5 crore from it was arrested from Banbasa border town of Champawat district in Uttarakhand, local intelligence sources said on Friday.
The man, who is also a high-profile businessman of Banbasa, was arrested by the Nepal police while illegally roaming the Gadda Chowki area on the Nepalese side of the border on Monday, the intelligence sources deployed in the border area said on condition of anonymity.
Borders between the two countries are sealed due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a ban on movement of people from either side.
The businessman is accused of hacking an account in Krishi Vikas Bank, Kathmandu and siphoning off around Rs 5 crore, they said.
Two more persons who are main accused in the case and related to each other are still on the run, the sources said.
Eighteen Nepalese have already been arrested in connection with the case.
SP Rathore, a spokesman for Nepal police headquarters in Kathmandu, confirmed the arrest of the Indian businessman in connection with the incident which took place during Dussehra last year.
A total of Rs 4.88 crore were siphoned off from the bank account, he said. By the time the Nepalese bank authorities realised what had happened, Rs 3.5 crore had already been transferred to an account in India, he said.
Seven bank employees have also been arrested in connection with the case, Rathore said. One of them who hails from Sukhasal in Kanchanpur district of Nepal had disclosed the names of people involved in the crime. His in-laws from Tanakpur in Uttarakhand are also involved in it, he said.
Some more high-profile names from India have cropped up in connection with the case and efforts will soon be made to arrest them as well, he said, but refused to disclose the names.