E-Paper
Pune Police bust online cyber fraud gang, arrest two from Mumbai
The accused are involved in many such crimes which we are detecting. We have found a lot of equipment and articles used by them to dupe the people, say police
The cybercrime police station has busted a Mumbai-based gang engaged in online fraud and arrested two people on charges of cheating a city-based person for Rs12.04 lakh.
The complainant who was in need of steel for making the pavilion structure had posted his requirement. After that, he started getting calls about the same. He received a call from a mobile number from a person named Rajesh Shah who claimed to be a broker in the steel industry and promised to supply steel directly from the factory at an affordable rate. After winning his confidence, he sent a quotation on the victim’s mobile number. The victim deposited Rs1204,073 in his bank account at Karnataka Bank in the name of Adinath Metals. The accused provided the GST number of an unidentified person for the said transaction.
Later, when the complainant did not receive steel, he approached the cyber police.
A first information report (FIR) under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 419 (cheating by impersonation ), 420 (cheating ), 465 (forgery ), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and section 66 (c) and 66 (d) of the Information Technology Act has been lodged.
The cyber police initiated a probe and reached Mumbai to nab the accused but he managed to give them a slip. However, the cyber sleuths persistently carried out a detailed investigation of his address and nabbed him on April 4.
The accused has been identified as Irfan alias Ishan Abdul Rahman Shaikh (38), a resident of Ramzan lane in Goregaon (East), Mumbai.
The team seized articles like fake company registration papers, papers in the name of Aditya Metals, corporate visiting cards in the name of various companies, SIM cards, ATM cards, bank accounts, transport challans, notary papers, stamp in the name of Aditya Metals and many other documents from his house which includes two mobile phones.
During interrogation, he revealed the name of Hitesh Nandkumar Mistri (45), a resident of Bhayandar (East).
Irfan had transferred the money he had received from the victim into the account of Hitesh’s wife. Hitesh was taken into custody and a notice under Cr PC 41 (a) (1) has been served to his wife.
The duo on interrogation told the police that their third associate identified Ronak Kirit Mehta (37), a resident of Walkeshwar was also involved in the crime and was served with a notice asking him to appear before the cyber cell for interrogation after he recovers from his illness.
Police inspector Dagadu Hake, incharge of the cyber cell, Shivajinagar, said, “The accused are involved in many such crimes which we are detecting. We have found a lot of equipment and articles used by them to dupe the people. The accused were arrested on April 5 and produced before the court which sent them to four days of police custody.”
