Interstate gang of hackers busted, 6 held
Tribune News Service
Mohali, January 5
The cyber crime cell of the Punjab Police has arrested six hackers from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for creating a fake Facebook account in the name of Chief Principal Secretary to Punjab CM Suresh Kumar.
Those arrested have been identified as Narendra Singh, Gulaab Singh, Bhaag Singh and Raman, all residents of Rajasthan, while Dinesh and Rahul belong to Madhya Pradesh. One accused is at large. The suspects were operating in Punjab, Haryana, UP and MP.
The police have recovered ATM cards, cash, SIM cards and a POS machine from the suspects. Arpit Shukla, Director-cum-ADGP, Bureau of Investigation, said the suspects had created a fake Facebook account in the name of Chief Principal Secretary to Punjab CM and were defrauding people by asking for money, pretending to be him.
DGP Dinkar Gupta formed three teams and dispatched them to UP, Rajasthan and MP. The arrests are likely to solve similar cases related to Facebook hacking, OLX/ bank frauds and a host of other cyber-related crimes.
Investigations suggest Dinesh and Rahul, nephews of Madan Lal, used his IDs to open bank accounts in his (Lal’s) name and usurp money obtained fraudulently.
The suspects moved in three different states of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan as their primary base was located at the tri-junction of these. The police located the whereabouts of Narender, in whose account the ill-gotten money was deposited, and arrested him from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. “On further probe, another gang member, Gulaab Singh, was apprehended, which led to the disclosure of a full-scale racket being run in the area,” Shukla said.
He said the connivance of some bank employees in the racket could not be ruled out. Further probe led to the arrest of Bhaag Singh and Raman Kumar, the kingpin in the money circulation of such rackets as they provide ATM cards, SIM cards and IDs to fraudsters, who hired their services for a 10 per cent cut in the money withdrawn through his money siphoning channel.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act.
