Pimpri Chinchwad Cyber Police Arrest Fourth Accused in Rs 1 Crore Fraud Against Senior Citizen, Caught in Rajasthan

Report by Varad Bhatkhande

Pimpri Chinchwad, 30th September 2024: Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) has caught the perpetrator who duped a senior citizen of more than Rs 1 crore. He was apprehended in Rajasthan. He, along with accomplices, had defrauded the citizen by impersonating an officer from the State Bank of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Three individuals involved in this cybercrime had already been arrested earlier.

The Cyber Cell arrested Mayank Ashok Kumar Goyal (age 20, resident of Rajasthan) in Jaipur. Previously, the Cyber Cell had arrested Sahil Mohan Mudliyar (age 25, resident of Sahakar Nagar), Kshitij Girish Kshirsagar (age 27, resident of Sinhagad Road), and Onkar Ram Naik (age 28, resident of Sangli).

A case has been registered against all of them under the BNS Sections 205 (wearing garb or carrying a token used by a public servant with fraudulent intent), 308(1) (extortion), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), and 336(3) (forgery), along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act of 2000.

According to information provided by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doiphode, a 60-year-old man from Chinchwad received a video call via WhatsApp. The accused, dressed in uniforms resembling those of Mumbai Police, CBI, and SBI officials, informed him that his bank account was being used in a Rs 2.5 crore money laundering case, threatening him with arrest. For verification purposes, they obtained his bank account details, and by gaining his trust, duped him of Rs 1,08,00,000. He initially reported the incident to the Chinchwad Police Station; however, due to the nature of the crime, the case was transferred to the Cyber Police.

The account number of DBS Bank Limited, which was used to receive funds from the complainant, was analyzed, and the involvement of the account holder was identified. Through searches based on these details and a technical investigation, three people were previously arrested. During their interrogation, it was revealed that the defrauded amount had been transferred to the Gujarat and Rajasthan areas. Based on the information obtained regarding these accounts, Goyal was arrested in Jaipur. He has been placed in police custody until October 3rd. The police are continuing their investigation.

This operation was conducted under the guidance of Pimpri Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Vinoy Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr. Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doiphode, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr. Vishal Hire. The Cyber Cell team, led by Police Inspector Ravikiran Nale, included Assistant Police Inspector Praveen Swami, Police Sub-Inspector Sagar Poman, and Police Constables Atul Lokhande, Shrikant Kabule, Saurabh Ghate, Hemant Kharat, Deepak Bhosale, Sandeep Tekale, Nilesh Deshmukh, Mukund Lotake, and Deepak Mane.