Nashik rickshaw driver’s bank account leads police to bust gang of cyber criminals with international links

The probe had started from a lawsuit successful which a pistillate bundle technologist from Wakad was cheated of Rs 12 lakh successful a ‘drugs successful parcel’ scam by cyber criminals posing arsenic courier institution executives and narcotics section officers. She was threatened with apprehension saying drugs had been recovered successful a parcel sent by her and she was forced to ammunition retired wealth connected the pretext of giving her ‘clearance certificate.’

As the cyber constabulary began a probe, they came crossed a slope relationship registered successful Nashik which had received adjacent to Rs 2.5 lakh from the funds siphoned disconnected successful this case. A constabulary squad went to Nashik and recovered that the relationship was successful the sanction of a rickshaw operator struggling to marque 2 ends meet.

Probe revealed a antheral who had travel to conscionable the rickshaw operator successful a achromatic SUV had offered him Rs 10,000 for letting him run the slope account. The constabulary squad tracked movements of the achromatic Scorpio SUV and recovered that it was utilized by immoderate radical from Rajasthan who had been surviving successful Undri country for the past fewer days.

Police subsequently arrested Mohammed Iliyas Mohammed Sadik Kalal (36), who hails from Sikar successful Rajasthan, Mohammed Shahid Mohammed Ali (25) from Jodhpur, Puran Singh Ratan Singh (24) from Jodhpur and Nazil Khatri Anwarali Khatri (29) from Jodhpur. All 4 had been surviving successful Undri successful Pune from the past fewer days and were conducting the operations of their cyber transgression pack from here. Police person recovered 18 compartment phones, 90 SIM cards, 60 slope passbooks, 60 debit cards, 15 Aadhar cards from them, on with 2 SUVs.

Probe revealed that Kalal was the 1 who was moving astir spotting mule relationship holders and was paying them tiny commissions to usage their slope accounts to person funds siphoned from the victims of cyber crimes.

Shahid and Singh were operating a web of implicit 300 slope accounts, which received funds to the tune of respective crores and person been flagged successful dozens of cyber frauds crossed India.

Khatri was handling the task of converting this wealth into the Tether cryptocurrency and sending it to the wallets of planetary masterminds. A tribunal successful Pimpri Chinchwad nonstop the 4 accused to constabulary custody.

In April this year, successful a crackdown against a radical of alleged cyber ft soldiers, the Pimpri Chinchwad constabulary had arrested 5 young men successful their 20s who worked arsenic transportation boys and operated a web of 120 slope accounts which had been receiving funds from cyber frauds. These suspects besides facilitated acquisition of cryptocurrency to beryllium sent to the wallets of their planetary masterminds for a meagre cut. The probe had revealed that these 120 accounts had unneurotic seen transactions of adjacent to Rs 15 crores and had been flagged successful astatine slightest 75 antithetic cyber transgression cases reported crossed the country.

An advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) successful May warned citizens regarding intimidation, blackmail, extortion and “digital arrests” by cyber criminals posing arsenic constabulary authorities, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), narcotics department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate and different instrumentality enforcement agencies.