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Colonel’s mobile theft exposes cyber fraud gang
The accused were identified as Govinda Kumar Mahato, 32 and his accomplice Suraj Nonia, 25 and his 15-year-old friend, are all from Sahibganj of Jharkhand
The recent theft of an iPhone of a colonel exposed a gang of cyber thugs active in the city, who first steal people’s mobile phones and then use it to commit cyber crimes.
“Busting the gang, a team of PGI police and cyber cell, Hazratganj arrested two inter-state thugs of the gang from Teenpahar, Jharkhand. One minor was taken under police protection,” said deputy commissioner of police, East, Shashank Singh, adding that seven stolen mobile phones and six SIM cards were recovered from their possession.
The accused - Govinda Kumar Mahato, 32 and his accomplice Suraj Nonia, 25 and his 15-year-old friend - all from Sahibganj of Jharkhand, told the police that they and their gang members steal phones from crowded places like markets, vegetable markets, flower markets, fruit markets, fairs etc. in big cities across the country. After that, they cheat people by breaking the locks, iCloud locks of the stolen phones and turning off ‘Find My Device’ in the devices.
They create digital e-wallets from bank accounts/credit cards linked to the SIM cards in the stolen phones and transfer money to bank accounts opened under fake names and addresses through apps like Cred etc. “After that, they sell the stolen phones through their associates and divide the money obtained from the fraud among themselves,” the police said.
The DCP explained that the matter came into police knowledge when one complainant Colonel Santosh Kumar Mishra lodged a complaint in the Cyber Crime Cell regarding cyber fraud of ₹5.5 lakh from his linked accounts and credit cards through his mobile phone iPhone-13 Pro Max which was stolen from the fruit and vegetable market located between Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar University and South City.
“Along with this, many other complaints were received in the Cyber Crime Cell from Phoolmandi Chowk, BKT Sabzi Mandi, Viraj Khand Sabzi Mandi, Nakhas Bazaar and other crowded places regarding cyber frauds done by stealing similar phones and using SIM cards in the phones. With the help of technical analysis and surveillance the Cyber Crime Cell took immediate action and busted the gang and arrested them near Utratiya railway station,” said the police.
The accused’s name has surfaced in multiple cases in Lucknow including fraud of ₹5.5 lakh at PGI, ₹16 lakh case registered at Cyber Police Station, ₹6 lakh at Cyber Police Station Lucknow and ₹99,000 fraud at Para Police station.
The gang has a criminal history even in Hyderabad, and complaints have been filed against the accused in various other states.
