Mumbai police arrest three in cyber-fraud network linked to ₹24 crore, 2,898 SIM cards

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Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch has arrested three men accused of supplying mule bank accounts and SIM cards to a cyber-fraud network suspected of handling around ₹350 crore.

The three accused have been identified as Islamuddin Salimuddin Sheikh, 44, Yasir Nasiruddin Sheikh, 26, and Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rauf, 42. They were arrested by Crime Branch Unit 5 on September 11 and produced before the Esplanade court, which remanded them to police custody until September 19.

A case has been registered at Malad Police Station under BNS provisions relating to cheating involving delivery of property, criminal conspiracy, abetment and acts committed by several persons with a common intention. Police have also invoked Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, which deals with cheating by personation using a computer or communication device.

According to DCP (Detection) Raj Tilak Roshan, the accused would buy bank accounts and SIM cards from other individuals by paying them a commission and then use or supply them for moving proceeds generated through cyber fraud.

The accused allegedly functioned as both buyers and sellers in the chain, procuring accounts and SIM cards from people below them and passing them on to operators higher up in the network.

Mumbai Police said the wider cyber-fraud network uncovered during the investigation involved transactions of around ₹350 crore. Investigators have, so far, specifically traced around ₹24 crore in suspected cyber-fraud transactions through 10 bank accounts linked to the accused.

Thirty-two cybercrime complaints linked to the accounts have also been found on the national cybercrime reporting system associated with the 1930 helpline.

Crime Branch Unit 5 began investigating after receiving information that the accused and their associates were procuring bank accounts opened in their own names and those of other people, along with SIM cards linked to the accounts. Police alleged that they took control of the passbooks, ATM cards, cheque books, SIM cards and other banking material and supplied or used them to route cybercrime proceeds.

The investigation has also revealed the alleged use of as many as 2,898 SIM cards for cyber fraud, police said. 32 complaints linked to the identified bank accounts were found registered on the national cybercrime helpline portal, 1930.

Crime Branch Unit 5 initially received information that the accused and their associates were opening or obtaining bank accounts in their own names as well as in the names of other people and procuring SIM cards linked to those accounts.

Police alleged that the accused retained control of passbooks, ATM cards, cheque books, SIM cards and other banking material, allowing the accounts to be used for receiving and transferring proceeds of online fraud.

During the operation, police seized 88 bank passbooks, 143 cheque books, 100 ATM cards, 167 SIM cards, 24 mobile phones, two laptops and other bank-related documents and material.

Investigators said transactions worth around ₹24 crore have so far been identified through just 10 bank accounts linked to the network. The large volume of banking material recovered is now being examined to determine whether more accounts, victims and cybercrime complaints are connected to the operation.

Crime Branch Unit 5 is investigating the identities of those who allegedly supplied the accounts and SIM cards to the accused, as well as the higher-level operators to whom they were allegedly passed.

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