Cyber fraud racket led by minor busted, ₹97L found in 24 bank accounts
The police also seized 43 ATM cards, 25 chequebooks, 32 SIM cards and 22 mobile phones from the quartet, which included Piyush Ramesh Soni, 35, Arju Mahesh Soni, 29, Rajkumar Babulal Soni, 32, and their 17-year-old boss. All the accused are residents of Ajmer in Rajasthan
MUMBAI: A cyber fraud racket headed by a 17-year-old boy was busted on Wednesday leading to the arrest of three fraud employees and the detention of the minor boss. The Chunabhatti police discovered that the minor was operating 24 bank accounts in which an amount of ₹97 lakh was deposited. The police froze the amount during the probe.
The police also seized 43 ATM cards, 25 chequebooks, 32 SIM cards and 22 mobile phones from the quartet, which included Piyush Ramesh Soni, 35, Arju Mahesh Soni, 29, Rajkumar Babulal Soni, 32, and their 17-year-old boss. All the accused are residents of Ajmer in Rajasthan.
According to the police, the complainant in the case, a 58-year-old woman residing in Chembur, had received a message on her WhatsApp from an unknown person, offering a part-time job in ‘Global Advert Corp Official.’
The woman responded to the message and joined the Telegram group created by the company, where she was given multiple tasks to like videos and deposit some amount to earn handsome returns. The accused initially gave her good returns.
After gaining her trust, the accused asked the complainant to deposit ₹12,000 if she wanted to earn huge returns. The woman, accordingly, started depositing on multiple reasons given by the accused and lost ₹4.32 lakh to the frauds, and did not get any amount in the return, said a police official.
The Chembur resident then approached the Chunabhatti police and reported the fraud.
The police then started an investigation and found that the amount paid by the woman was deposited in a bank account held with IDFC Bank in the name of DK Group and another account with Yes Bank in the name Shiv Shankar Paswan, said the police officer.
The police further found that the accused had opened several current accounts in multiple banks in the name of their associates. After questioning many bank account holders, police came to know about the main accused, the 17-year-old and also realised that he changed his mobile numbers and addresses frequently, making it difficult for the police to nab him.
After scrutinising call details records and internet protocol detail record of around 70 mobile numbers, the police arrested the minor from Bhayandar where he was hiding for ten days. After questioning him, police traced his three associates and during search at their residences police seized 43 ATM cards, 25 cheque books and 32 SIM cards and 22 mobile phones from their possession.
During further probe, the minor was found to be the mastermind of the racket and was therefore sent to Dongri children’s home. The police said the accused has several cases registered against them at Matunga, Pant Nagar police stations and cyber police stations. They added that the accused were operating from 24 bank accounts in which ₹97 lakh was frozen after the police informed the concerned banks about the frauds.
