Sakinaka police bust bank kit supply racket linked to cyber frauds, three arrested

Mumbai police arrested three gang members supplying "bank account kits" to cyber fraudsters involved in online scams. Investigations ongoing.

MUMBAI: The Sakinaka police have busted a gang allegedly supplying “bank account kits” of reputed banks to cyber frauds involved in illegal gaming and betting apps, APK file scams and other online frauds. Three members of the gang were arrested from a hotel in Sakinaka in the early hours of Saturday.

Sakinaka police bust bank kit supply racket linked to cyber frauds, three arrested

The arrested accused have been identified as Sinajuddin Abdul Pilakal, Suraj Dilip Davande and Ashish Shivkumar Pal. A local court remanded them to police custody.

According to the police, the kits contained debit cards, SIM cards, passwords and other documents, which were allegedly handed over to cyber criminals to operate mule accounts used for defrauding victims. In APK file scams, victims are tricked into installing malicious Android application packages through links or messages, allowing fraudsters remote access to phones, banking details and OTPs.

The police swung into action after receiving a tip-off about suspicious activity at Hotel Icon on the Andheri–Ghatkopar Link Road. A raid at around 4 am led to the arrest of Pilakal and Davande from room number 108. Electronic devices, including a laptop, three mobile phones and SIM cards, were seized.

“We have arrested a few accused and are tracing the rest to ascertain how many kits were distributed and to whom,” a Sakinaka police officer said.