Gang that duped people through fake share mkt app busted, 3 held

Matunga police bust gang behind fake share market app scam, arrest 3 members, recover data of 3 lakh people, 16 phones, 15 SIM cards. Accused involved in 39 cases.

MUMBAI: The Matunga police have busted a gang that allegedly duped hundreds of people across the country through a fake share market app and a call centre based in Madhya Pradesh. Between April 6 and 10, police raided the call centre in Indore, arrested three members of the gang from Mumbai and Ujjain, and recovered data of around 3 lakh people, 16 mobile phones, 15 SIM cards and other devices from the accused. Members of the gang members are accused in at least 39 cases registered across the country, and efforts are on to nab other operatives, said police officials.

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The arrested accused were identified as Raj Bahadur Ram Singh Bhadoria, 62, a resident of Gwalior; Ankit alias Rajkumar Shriram Shinde, 30, a resident of Indore; and Sanjay Bhagwandas Bairagi, 28, a resident of Ujjain.

The probe was initiated on the basis of a complaint lodged by 56-year-old Matunga resident Chandrasekhar Taware, who was duped of ₹8 lakh through the fake share market app.

In his complaint, Taware said that in February, he received a call from a person who claimed to be the owner of Profit Bull and L B Enterprises, a purported investment firm based in Bengaluru. The caller promised Taware good returns on investments in the share market, shared relevant links for information on his company and the stock market, and asked him to download an application named ‘Profit Bull’.

The accused subsequently won the Taware’s trust by showing inflated returns on the app for his initial investment of ₹7,500. In the month of March, he asked the complainant to enter his NEFT and UPI details on the app and convinced him to invest a total of ₹8.33 lakh.

Though his account balance in the app reflected lakhs, Taware was unable to withdraw any money despite repeated efforts. He contacted the accused, but the person asked him to invest more money. Finding this suspicious, Taware approached the Matunga police, where a case was registered under sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code along with sections 66 C, 66 D of the Information Technology Act.

During investigation, the Matunga cyber police analysed the bank accounts to which money was transferred and identified the person as the 62-year-old Bhadoria from Gwalior. On April 6, Bhadoria was arrested upon arrival at the Mumbai airport. Based on his interrogation details, a police team travelled to Madhya Pradesh. On April 9, they busted the call centre in Indore and on April 10, they arrested Shinde and Bairagi from Ujjain. Police also recovered four debit/ credit cards, four cheque books, 16 mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, a laptop and router and mobile numbers of more than 3 lakh people from the accused.

Further interrogation revealed that around four to five persons were employed at the Indore call centre and their job comprised calling numbers on the database and convincing people to invest money through the fake share market app.

Following their arrest on April 10, Shinde and Bairagi were brought to Mumbai. All three accused were produced in court on the next day and remanded in police custody till April 15.