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

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], January 29 (ANI): The Cyber Crime Unit of the Pimpri Chinchwad Police has claimed to have busted an inter-state cyber fraud racket with the arrest of six individuals, the police said.
As per the police, the arrested accused were involved in providing bank accounts used in cyber fraud operations internationally. These arrests are part of an ongoing investigation into cybercrime activities involving mule accounts linked to international masterminds.
The arrested accused have been identified as Shubham Mohan Londhe, Sam alias David alias Sambidh Kumar Shripati Nayak, Professor alias Himanshu Kumar Ganesh Thakur, Rajansh Singh Santosh Singh, Gaurav Anil Kumar Sharma, and Ankush Ramrao More.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doiphode, the prime accused, Sam alias David, had been contacting account holders across India via Telegram for the past two years. These accounts were then provided to the primary suspect based in Cambodia.
The operation was initiated based on information received by Police Constable Hemant Kharat during an ongoing cybercrime investigation. The tip-off suggested that Shubham Londhe was involved in providing bank accounts for cyber crimes. Upon interrogation, Londhe revealed that he had given the accounts to Sam alias David, as per the police.
The police seized nine mobile phones, one tablet, and ten chequebooks. Investigations reveal that the accused have provided thousands of bank accounts to the main suspect in Cambodia over the past two years.
The breakthrough came when a cybercrime team from the Pimpri Chinchwad police investigated a share trading cyber fraud case registered earlier this month, in which the victim lost Rs 7.6 lakh on the promise of high returns. During the initial probe, they identified Shubham Londhe (24) from Pune's Chikhali as a suspect handling several mule accounts. These accounts were accessed by another handler, Sam David, who was found to be linked to international cybercriminals in Cambodia, as per the police.
The investigation also revealed that Sam David, using at least 20 different phone numbers, had his primary base in Goa and was frequently travelling across India. Based on a tip-off, he was apprehended in Hinjawadi on January 23 under his real name, Sambidhkumar Shripati Nayak (22), a resident of Odisha, and a Bollywood aspirant. Further investigation showed that he had booked at least seven hotel rooms in various locations in Pune for the mule account holders, and further investigation is on, DCP Doiphode said. (ANI)