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Man behind the Rs1,600-crore account trail held in Kanpur
Mohammad Mahfooz has been arrested in Kanpur after months on the run. He was produced before a court on Thursday.
Accused of befriending vulnerable people, stealing their documents and opening bank accounts in their names to route hundreds of crores through fraudulent transactions, Mohammad Mahfooz has been arrested in Kanpur after months on the run. He was produced before a court on Thursday. DCP East Satyajit Gupta said police would soon seek his remand.
Police arrested Mahfooz from Jajmau following a cordon operation, though there is speculation that he was first detained in Kolkata and his formal arrest was later shown in Jajmau. Police have not commented on the claim.
The case emerged from an unlikely lead. Around a month and a half ago, two bike borne youths reported a robbery in Shyamnagar but withdrew their complaint when police arrived. CCTV footage, however, confirmed that a robbery had indeed taken place. Officers arrested the accused and questioned the complainants, who revealed that the money involved belonged to Mahfooz.
When police examined 68 bank accounts linked to Mahfooz and his relatives, they discovered transactions worth nearly ₹1,600 crore. He fled soon afterwards.
According to police, Mahfooz followed a calculated pattern. He allegedly identified vulnerable people, gained their trust and collected their identity documents on false pretexts. A man named Shahnawaz told police that Mahfooz helped him rent a house in Saraya Bazaar and later took his voter ID card, claiming it was needed for insurance purposes.
Using forged documents, Mahfooz allegedly created Aadhaar and PAN cards in the name of Raja Mishra using Shahnawaz’s photograph. He then opened an IDBI Bank account under a firm called Raja enterprises using a GST number.
When Shahnawaz refused to sign transaction documents, Mahfooz allegedly forged his signatures and carried out the transactions himself. Shahnawaz told police that Mahfooz, his son, his brother in law and the latter’s son repeatedly threatened him to continue signing documents. Several crores are believed to have passed through that account alone.
