Gujarat police have dismantled a sophisticated cyber fraud racket, arresting 10 individuals involved in scams that defrauded victims of over Rs 53 crore across 20 states.
Key Points
- Gujarat police arrest 10 individuals involved in a large-scale cyber fraud racket.
- The cyber fraud operation involved over Rs 53 crore and impacted victims across 20 states.
- Accused lured people into renting bank accounts for fraudulent transactions.
- Police seized mobile phones, cheque books, and debit cards, uncovering details of 197 bank accounts.
- The cybercrime cases spanned multiple states, with Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra reporting the highest numbers.
Police in Gandhinagar on Tuesday said they have arrested 10 individuals from Gujarat in connection with a cyber fraud racket involving more than Rs 53 crore and spanning at least 20 states.
A team from the Cyber Centre of Excellence based in the Gujarat capital made the arrests.
Key Accusations and Connections
One of the arrested men, Sahilmia Shabbirmia Malek, a resident of Anand, allegedly provided a Karnataka Bank account belonging to Salman Vohra of Petlad town (Anand district), who was an accused in the 2024 murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique in Mumbai, police noted.
"Based on technical surveillance, the team arrested 10 main accused who were working on commission by handling money obtained through cybercrimes. During investigation, it was found that the frauds involved Rs 53.55 crore across different states, where a total of 132 cyber complaints were filed by victims," an official release said.
Modus Operandi of the Cyber Fraud
The accused operated by luring individuals into renting out their bank accounts, which were then used to receive and transfer funds obtained through various fraudulent schemes, including investment scams, UPI-related and trading frauds, it said.
Seized Evidence and Scope of the Fraud
Police seized 11 mobile phones, as many cheque books, passbooks and debit cards from the arrested accused. Analysis of seized mobile phones uncovered details of 197 bank accounts, of which 60 were directly linked to 132 cybercrime cases, the release stated.
The cases spanned at least 20 states, with the highest number reported in Gujarat (22), followed by Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (13), Uttar Pradesh and Kerala (10 each), according to the release.
Details of the Arrested Individuals
Other arrested individuals were Nizamuddin Diwan, Tushar Valand, Moin Malek, and Krupal Desai (all from Anand district); Sohil Malek from Borsad; Jignesh Patel, Vanraj Bharwad, and Riken alias Rocky, also known as Pandit Patel (all from Kheda district) and Akash Patel (Ahmedabad district), as per the release.
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