Raigad police bust huge cyber fraud racket, arrest 11, seize 6,175 SIM cards

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

NAVI MUMBAI: In a significant breakthrough, the Raigad cyber police have dismantled a cyber fraud operation with nationwide and international links. Eleven individuals have been arrested for their involvement in the racket, which targeted elderly citizens by using fake identities of central government and law enforcement officials. Raigad police bust huge cyber fraud racket, arrest 11, seize 6,175 SIM cards
The gang operated using telecom-grade SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) infrastructure to impersonate officials from agencies such as the CBI, Supreme Court and cyber police.
The case came to light after a Raigad resident filed a complaint on May 23, stating that he had been defrauded of ₹66 lakh. 'He received multiple WhatsApp and voice calls from fraudsters posing as central government officials, who accused him of money laundering and threatened to arrest him unless he paid a hefty fine,' said the investigating officer. 'Under psychological pressure, the victim transferred the money to several accounts over a span of several days.'
The investigation led the police to a Central Bank account held by Abdus Salam Barbhuyan, through which the stolen funds had been routed. 'Further digital tracking pointed to a company named Nivi Cloud Pvt Ltd, hosted at the Yotta Data Centre in Panvel,' said superintendent of police Anchal Dalal. 'The listed director, Vineet Duva, was discovered to be a fake identity.'
The police arrested Nadeem Ahmed, Laraib Khan, Shadan Khan and Mohd Faisal Khan, four men from Shahganj, Jaunpur (UP), who were allegedly manufacturing fake KYC documents. The documents were reportedly made with the help of two Jio sales managers, Vinay Kumar Rao and Gangadhar Muttan. 'The duo procured SIP lines in the names of shell companies. These lines were then used to make fraudulent calls across India,' said the officer.
At the centre of the racket was Abhay Santprakash Mishra, a BTech graduate from Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. He worked as an aggregator, setting up multiple servers to operate both domestic and international SIP lines. 'Mishra's network was found to have ties to Pakistan, Canada, Nepal, China, and Bangladesh. He was also found attempting to secure fake documents for Nepalese citizenship,' said Dalal.
The investigation revealed that one of the servers operated by Mishra had made over 6.2 million calls in just 28 days, including 87,000 to target victims in Maharashtra. Upon his arrest, the authorities recovered 35 mobile phones, laptops, tablets, VPN equipment and documents related to 112 bank accounts. The police have also seized cryptocurrency worth ₹85 lakh as well as real estate assets, including a flat in Noida, two shops in Hardoi and a bungalow in Nepal.
In a related arrest, Mohsin Mia Khan was apprehended in Delhi with 6,175 SIM cards from providers such as Jio, Airtel, VI and several foreign telecom companies. He had 26 mobile phones and admitted to supplying SIM cards for use in cyber fraud activities. The police have also arrested Shams Tahir Khan, an MBA from Rajasthan, who helped market and sell illegal SIP connections.