Latest news with #CriminalInvestigationsDepartment
Khaleej Times
25-06-2025
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Fake rental, job ads among top online scams, say Ajman Police
A surge in fake advertisements and suspicious links to lure unsuspecting recipients with seemingly attractive offers has prompted a response from authorities. These fraudulent schemes range from bogus farm and resort rental ads, sales promotions boasting unrealistic prices, and text messages impersonating banks or government agencies to suspicious sales links that can lead directly to hacking or the theft of funds. To bolster community security and combat digital crimes, the Ajman Police, represented by the Criminal Investigations Department and the Media and Public Relations Department, has launched a comprehensive awareness campaign titled 'Your Security is in Your Awareness.' The initiative aims to significantly elevate public awareness regarding various methods of electronic fraud, with a particular focus on deceptive advertisements and online scams. Colonel Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Director of the Criminal Investigations Department at Ajman Police, underscored the campaign's critical objective. 'This campaign is designed to educate the public against electronic fraud aimed at stealing money and against deceptive advertisements and suspicious links that promise enticing offers,' he stated. He elaborated on the common tactics, including 'fake farm and resort rental advertisements, sales ads claiming attractive prices, text messages impersonating banks or government entities, and suspicious sales links that could lead to hacking or financial theft." Al Nuaimi further emphasised the importance of vigilance, noting that fraudsters continually innovate their methods. He warned against 'advertisements for buying, selling, and renting at attractive and unrealistic prices, as well as ads for recruiting domestic workers and job offers with tempting salaries,' among other ploys used to mislead and ensnare targets. The Ajman Police urged the public to exercise extreme caution and verify the authenticity of advertisements on social media platforms and the legitimacy of links before taking any action that could result in financial loss. In January, Dubai police arrested a gang involved in luring and scamming victims through fake links and pretending to be well-known organisations, including restaurants and delivery companies, and offering promotional deals. The cybercriminals operated by sending SMS messages, emails and online links that appeared to come from trusted companies. The community is encouraged to cooperate with the police by reporting any attempted fraud or suspicious advertisements through the 'Share with Security' service available on the Ajman Police smart application, or by contacting the dedicated number 067037309.
The Star
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Sri Lanka prison chief kept in custody after fraud convict freed
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's prison chief was remanded in custody Tuesday (June 10) in connection with the illegal release of a convicted financial fraudster under the guise of an amnesty for minor offenders. Commissioner-General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya (pic) was arrested late Monday by the Criminal Investigations Department, over the release of fraud convict Athula Thilakaratne. The government suspended Upuldeniya following reports the convict's name was smuggled into a list of nearly 400 minor offenders who were granted a presidential amnesty last month. Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Rathnayake ordered Upuldeniya be held in custody until Wednesday, pending a criminal investigation. "It was decided to suspend the Commissioner-General until the investigations are concluded," the Justice Ministry said in a statement. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's office ordered the police investigation last week after the release of Thilakaratne. He was serving a six-month sentence over a financial scam and is also facing 30 other fraud cases. Police have launched a manhunt for Thilakaratne, who went missing after his unlawful release from prison was reported in the local media. A presidential amnesty was granted to 388 inmates last month to mark Vesak, the most important Buddhist festival on the island. Thilakaratne "was not among those approved by the president to receive a pardon", Dissanayake's office said. The president told a public rally last week that corruption was rife in prisons and called for a major clean-up. He also warned officials to improve or face the sack. - AFP
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Sri Lanka prison chief kept in custody after fraud convict freed
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's prison chief was remanded in custody Tuesday in connection with the illegal release of a convicted financial fraudster under the guise of an amnesty for minor offenders. Commissioner-General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya was arrested late Monday by the Criminal Investigations Department, over the release of fraud convict Athula Thilakaratne. The government suspended Upuldeniya following reports the convict's name was smuggled into a list of nearly 400 minor offenders who were granted a presidential amnesty last month. Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Rathnayake ordered Upuldeniya be held in custody until Wednesday, pending a criminal investigation. 'It was decided to suspend the Commissioner-General until the investigations are concluded,' the Justice Ministry said in a statement. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's office ordered the police investigation last week after the release of Thilakaratne. He was serving a six-month sentence over a financial scam and is also facing 30 other fraud cases. Police have launched a manhunt for Thilakaratne, who went missing after his unlawful release from prison was reported in the local media. A presidential amnesty was granted to 388 inmates last month to mark Vesak, the most important Buddhist festival on the island. Thilakaratne 'was not among those approved by the president to receive a pardon', Dissanayake's office said. The president told a public rally last week that corruption was rife in prisons and called for a major clean-up. He also warned officials to improve or face the sack.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- BBC News
Men jailed for violent Gloucestershire home invasion as baby slept
Two men have been jailed for breaking into a house and threatening the occupants with a knife while their baby slept upstairs. Colin Brown, 36, from Stanway Road in Coney Hill, and Craig Wood, 33, of Portreath Way in Kingsway, were sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on 27 in balaclavas and armed with a crowbar and serrated knife, the pair forced their way into a property in the Mount Pleasant area of Stroud, was jailed for five years while Brown was handed an 11-year jail term due to previous convictions for burglary and a dangerous driving offence. The court heard how the men had arrived at the address shortly before 14:50 GMT on 8 January. Doorbell footage showed Brown and Wood attempting to force entry to the front door of the property and when confronted by a man who was inside, Wood threatened to shoot him. He was then heard telling Brown to "get the shooter".Brown used a crowbar to smash a window before the pair gained entry to the inside, Brown tackled the male occupant to the floor and held a knife to his neck while demanding to know "where the weed was". Meanwhile, a woman who was also in the property had locked herself in an upstairs bedroom with her child. She was on the phone to the police when one of the intruders came upstairs and forced the door pointed a knife at the woman, grabbed her phone and asked where the drugs were before going downstairs and Wood then assaulted the male victim, who sustained cuts and grazes to his hands, before leaving the address with the woman's phone. Gloucestershire Police were at the scene within five minutes and immediately spotted Wood near the property, still wearing a balaclava. He was arrested and charged with aggravated knife used to threaten the victims was found in the hallway of the property, while the crowbar and a quantity of cannabis was discovered in a neighbouring fled the scene but was located 10 days later. He was also arrested and charged with aggravated burglary. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228, and both men were given a 12-year restraining order. 'Terrifying ordeal' Det Con Mollie Grice, from the Criminal Investigations Department, said: "It was the middle of the afternoon when Brown and Wood committed this violent intrusion into a house where a child slept upstairs. It must have been a terrifying ordeal for the victims."I am pleased that Wood and Brown are now facing the consequences of their actions and I hope that their sentence demonstrates that we take incidents like this seriously and will always investigate them thoroughly and bring offenders to justice."No-one should feel unsafe in their own homes, and we will continue to actively pursue offenders who commit burglary within our communities."
CNN
04-04-2025
- CNN
US tourist arrested after allegedly attempting to contact ‘world's most isolated' tribe
An American tourist has been arrested after allegedly traveling to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal and attempting to contact one of the world's most isolated tribes. Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made the illegal voyage to North Sentinel Island, home to the enigmatic Sentinelese tribe, on March 29, Indian police told CNN. North Sentinel Island is a land mass roughly the size of Manhattan in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, about 750 miles from the Indian mainland. Visiting the island is prohibited by Indian law to maintain the Sentinelese way of life and protect them from modern illnesses, from which they lack immunity. While Polyakov successfully reached the island, he does not appear to have made contact with the Sentinelese tribe, Jitendra Kumar Meena, head of the Andaman and Nicobar Police's Criminal Investigations Department told CNN. He was spotted by a local fisherman on his way back and arrested two days later, Meena said. Police seized an inflatable boat and motor from Polyakov. He has not yet been charged with any offenses. A spokesperson for the US State Department said 'we are aware of reports of the detention of a US citizen in India' in a statement to CNN but could not comment further on the case. It is not clear if Polyakov has retained a lawyer. The Sentinelese have only made contact with the modern world a handful of times and have been known to vigorously reject outsiders. Because the Sentinelese are so reclusive, it is difficult to know how many there are – estimates range from dozens to hundreds. Previous encounters with the tribe have proved fatal. In 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau was reportedly killed by tribespeople after he arrived on North Sentinel Island, hoping to convert the local people to Christianity. Polyakov is 'lucky he did not make contact otherwise he would have met the same fate,' Meena said. Caroline Pearce, Director of Survival International, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of isolated tribal groups, called Polyakov's alleged actions 'reckless and idiotic.' 'This person's actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk,' Pearce said in a statement. 'It's very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out,' she added. Polyakov planned his trip well in advance, visiting the Andaman islands twice before traveling to North Sentinel on his third visit, allegedly setting off from a beach about 25 miles away in South Andaman, Meena said. 'As per what he has revealed in the investigation so far, he said he is keen on adventures. He said he had left some soft drink bottles there for the tribe but we haven't found anything so far,' Meena said. Police have seized Polyakov's phone and GoPro, as well as a bottle of sand he allegedly collected from the island. A special investigation team is carrying out a search of the island from afar, on boats using binoculars, despite choppy waters the last couple of days, Meena said. There are more than 100 uncontacted tribes around the world, mainly in the Amazon rainforest, but the Sentinelese are 'the most isolated Indigenous people in the world,' according to Survival International. Most of what is known about them comes from boats moored more than an arrow's distance from the shore and from rare past encounters with authorities. The Sentinelese hunt in the rainforest and fish in the coastal waters using spears, bows and arrows, as well as homemade narrow outrigger canoes, according to Survival International. They are thought to live in three groups in both large communal huts and more informal shelters on the beach. First contact with the Sentinelese tribe was made by the British in the late 1800s, when, despite their attempts to hide, six individuals from the tribe were captured and taken to the main island of the Andaman Island archipelago. An Indian law from 1956 bans outsiders from traveling to North Sentinel and other islands in the archipelago home to Indigenous groups. Except for a brief, friendly interaction in the early 1990s, the Sentinelese have fiercely resisted contact with outsiders, even after disaster. In 2004, following the Asian tsunami that devastated the Andaman chain, a member of the tribe was photographed on a beach on the island, firing arrows at a helicopter sent to check on their welfare. Two years later, members of the tribe killed two poachers who had been illegally fishing in the waters surrounding North Sentinel Island after their boat drifted ashore, according to Survival International. Pearce, of Survival International, said India – which has built up military infrastructure on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in recent years in case of a confrontation with China – has a 'legal responsibility' to protect the Sentinelese people from missionaries, social media influencers, illegal fishers or anyone else. There have been other encounters with uncontacted tribes in recent years. In February, a young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe in Brazil made brief contact with the outside world before returning to the Amazon rainforest. In 2024, Survival International published rare images of the uncontacted Mashco Piro tribe in the remote Peruvian Amazon, reporting that the tribe was trying to evade loggers.
