7 held for misusing bank accounts of job aspirants for cyber fraud

Thane, Aug 23 (PTI) Police in Maharashtra's Thane city have busted a cyber fraud racket with the arrest of seven persons from Goa, who allegedly cheated job aspirants by misusing their bank accounts and SIM cards for illegal activities, an official said on Saturday.

The arrests were made based on a probe into a complaint lodged by a man who alleged that a bank account and SIM card in his name were used for cyber fraud, the official said.

"The accused lured the victim under the pretext of offering him a job. They opened a bank account in his name and took away the passbook, ATM card, and SIM card linked to it. These were later sent to Goa for use in cyber crimes," Inspector Atul Adurkar said.

When the victim did not get a job, he enquired with the bank and discovered that his account had been misused for illegal transactions, he said.

The accused had similarly cheated at least 80 job aspirants, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police team raided a hotel in South Goa and arrested the seven accused on the spot, the official said.

The accused Anand Ashok Meghwani (34) and Saurabh Sharma (40) hail from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while Bhola Pradeep Yadav (21), Lalchand Mukhia (25), Gaurav Yadav (25), Rohit Yadav (21), and Rajakumar Yadav (21) are from Bihar.

During the raid, the police seized two laptops, 30 mobile phones, bank passbooks in the name of 11 persons from Nagpur, ATM cards, and several SIM cards.

"The gang opened bank accounts in the names of job aspirants by paying them Rs 5,000 each. The kits with passbooks, ATM cards, and SIM cards were handed over by local agents. These accounts were then used for cyber fraud transactions and online gaming fraud. To evade arrest, the gang would remain in one location for 15 days before shifting base," the official said.

The accused have been booked under section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, he said, adding that investigations are underway to trace other members of the gang." PTI COR ARU