Police dismantle inter-state cyber fraud racket in Pune, arrest 6

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The Cyber Crime Unit of Pimpri Chinchwad Police has successfully busted an inter-state cyber fraud racket and arrested six individuals involved in the illegal operation. The accused were allegedly responsible for providing bank accounts that were used in international cyber fraud schemes, according to the police.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Shubham Mohan Londhe, Sam (alias David), Sambidh Kumar Shripati Nayak, Professor (alias Himanshu Kumar), Ganesh Thakur, Rajansh Singh Santosh Singh, Gaurav Anil Kumar Sharma, and Ankush Ramrao More. These individuals are accused of facilitating cybercrime activities by providing mule accounts for fraudulent operations linked to international criminal masterminds.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doiphode stated that Sam, also known as David, had been contacting account holders across India via the messaging platform Telegram for the past two years. These individuals were coerced into providing their bank accounts to aid the international scam. The primary suspect, Sam, is based in Cambodia and is believed to have masterminded the global operation.

The operation came to light following a tip-off received by Police Constable Hemant Kharat, who had been investigating ongoing cybercrimes. The tip suggested that Shubham Londhe, a resident of Pune, had been providing bank accounts for fraudulent purposes. During interrogation, Londhe confirmed that he had handed over the accounts to Sam alias David, who was linked to the operation.

The police seized several items, including nine mobile phones, one tablet, and ten chequebooks. Further investigation revealed that the suspects had provided thousands of bank accounts to the main criminal mastermind in Cambodia over the past two years.

The breakthrough in the case came when the Pimpri Chinchwad police, while investigating a share trading fraud that had resulted in a loss of Rs 7.6 lakh, identified Londhe as a suspect. Londhe was found to have handled numerous mule accounts, which were later traced to Sam David, who used at least 20 different phone numbers. Sam had a base in Goa but travelled extensively across India.

The police tracked down Sam in Hinjawadi on January 23, where he was arrested under his real name, Sambidhkumar Shripati Nayak, a 22-year-old from Odisha who had aspirations of working in Bollywood. Further investigations revealed that Sam had booked multiple hotel rooms in Pune for the mule account holders. The investigation continues as the police work to uncover more details related to the operation.

(With inputs from ANI)