Trio Held For Running Cyber Fraud Racket From Vasai Lodge

A routine lodge stay in Vasai East turned out to be the base of an alleged cyber fraud network that defrauded people across nine states of more than ₹20 crore, police said. A tip-off from a lodge employee led Waliv police to raid the room on Wednesday and arrest three Gujarat-based men, from whom they recovered 20 mobile phones, five laptops and fake Aadhaar and PAN cards.

The arrested men have been identified as Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, 28, a driver by profession, Sheikh Mohammad Saif, 21, and Shahrukh Pathan, 30, a delivery agent. All three are from Vadodara, Gujarat. Police said they were allegedly involved in sextortion, digital arrest scams and other cyber frauds.

According to police, the gang had allegedly cheated victims in nine states and ₹1.5 crore of the suspected proceeds was deposited into two bank accounts linked to the arrested men. Police said 25 complaints had been registered at different locations in connection with the accounts.

The racket was uncovered after a lodge employee became suspicious of the men’s activities. The trio were allegedly staying in the lodge for about a month and would reportedly stay inside their room during the day, making phone calls, and spend their entire nights drinking. The employee then alerted the Waliv police.

Police raided the room and found the three men. During questioning, they allegedly admitted to operating a cyber fraud racket from the lodge. Police also recovered fake identity documents and electronic devices from the room.

Police Sub-Inspector Avinash Hatkhile said the accused allegedly sent malicious APK files to victims and made digital arrest calls to cheat them. The gang was also linked to several mule account holders across the country, through which lakhs of rupees were allegedly transacted every day.

“We are now trying to trace the account holders and also the victims who had been cheated by these cyber frauds,” said Hatkhile.

Police have booked the trio under the relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, and they are also searching for four other alleged members of the gang.