INDIA. Mumbai: The Cyber Police Division of the Mumbai Police recently arrested three people from Uttar Pradesh on charges of siphoning over Rs 5.5 crore from the people by assuring them high returns on the maturity of their insurance policies, bank loans, and jobs across the country.
The trio duped people in Mumbai, Delhi, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Balsing Rajput told the media on Monday.
The accused were identified as Anujkumar Baleshwar Saha (21), residing at Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. He was running a mobile shop for the sake of name and was collecting insurance policy documents from the holders, who were desperate to obtain an early refund of the sum insured.
He used to get money credited to his bank account and then withdraw it from different ATMs. Rs 71 lakh was credited to his Hyderabad bank account regarding the maturity of insurance policies. He was arrested on January 7.
Sandip Kumar Laltaprasad (28), residing in Ghaziabad, used to collect rent receipts, Aadhar cards, etc., from people and, based on these documents, obtain SIM cards. Based on these SIM cards and fake documents, he used them to open bank accounts online.
Then he used to pass these bank account numbers and ATM cards to other accused, Ravi Singh, Saroj Singh, and Sumit Singh, by collecting Rs 15000 per account. He had opened 27 fake bank accounts in the last year. He was arrested on January 14.
Ravi Singh Saroj Singh, residing in Greater Noida, was working at a call center in Salarpur. He used to collect money from people by promising them jobs in different companies. He was arrested on January 17.
The offence (FIR No. 20/2022) was registered under sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120 (B), 506, 34, and 66-D of the Information Technology Act 2000 (as amended in 2008), and the accused were arrested. They have been booked for cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery, impersonation, and criminal intimidation.
The police confiscated 18 ATM cards, 12 mobile phones, five laptops, and Rs 44,000 in cash, among other valuables. Besides, an amount of Rs. 20.50 lakh lying in the different bank accounts of the accused was frozen by the police. The accused were found with policies issued by different insurance companies.
The scam was unearthed when a dry fruit wholesale merchant from Ghatkopar in north-east Mumbai was duped out of Rs 4,39,57,532 by assuring him a refund of Rs. 7,70,93,028 on his insurance policy. The accused contacted him repeatedly from November 8, 2021, to August 4, 2022. They communicated with him through e-mail, phone calls, etc.
The accused sent him forged RBI receipts and fake letters from the National Payment Corporation of India and the Union Ministry of Finance to gain his confidence.
During the investigation, the police revealed that the accused had opened bank accounts in fictitious names in 27 states. The mobile phones used by the accused matched with the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) originating from three cases in Mumbai and 11 offences across the country.
DCP Balsing Rajput said, “The mastermind is a repeat offender. We are trying to find out where they access such a huge amount of data. This is a much bigger racket, and more people are involved. The accused mostly targeted senior citizens.”
The gang was busted by officiating Police Inspector Sharmila Sahasrbuddhe, Police Inspector Jagannath More, and staff, under the supervision of Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, Spl CP Deven Bharati, Joint CP Lakhami Gautam, Addl CP Dnyneshwar Chavan, DCP Balsing Rajput, and ACP Rajesh Nagwade.
Also Read: Mumbai Police Bust Pan-India Cybercrime Racket, Arrest Four
