Gang that duped Panchkula Mayor was active in 12 states

The inter-state gang of cyber fraudsters, which duped Panchkula Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal of Rs 42 lakh, was operating in 12 states. The interrogation of its members arrested by the police has also revealed that the gang duped its victims of over Rs 2.75 crore in 17 cases.

The investigation is being led by DCP (Crime and Traffic), Manpreet Singh Sudan, under the guidance of Police Commissioner Sibash Kabiraj.

The gang’s operations stretched across Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Telangana.

On June 26, the Mayor's son received a message alerting him of suspicious transactions from a company bank account. Upon verification, it was discovered that the fraudsters used fake letterheads and documents to siphon off Rs 42.52 lakh from the Mayor’s account. Swift action by the police led to the freezing of Rs 32-lakh transaction, which is now in the process of being returned to the victim.

The Cyber Crime Police Station team had cracked the case. The first arrests were made on July 5 when Salauddin Ansari and Shyam Dayal were nabbed from Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. Later, Devvrat from Bihar was arrested on July 18. Based on their interrogation, key suspects Rahul Kumar, alias Bunty; Alok Kumar, alias Bantu; and Prateek Raj, alias Ankit, were arrested from Bihar on July 23.

The police have recovered 16 mobile phones, two laptops, 37 ATM cards, three Paytm sound boxes, two Jio fibre devices, four fake SIM cards, three bank kits, nine chequebooks, two passbooks and Rs 30,000 cash from them.

The accused were produced in the court on July 24 and granted two-day police remand.

Meanwhile, Sudan confirmed that the accused’s questioning was going on to identify their accomplices and uncover more cases of fraud perpetrated by the gang. The role of bank staff is also under scrutiny and legal action will be taken against any such collaborators, he added.