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Bengal police cybercrime arrest: For years, the elusive Ajay K alias Kurapati Ajay kept the police in 13 states on their toes – meeting and befriending people in hotels across India, conning them of their possessions, and donning disguises and forging identities to evade capture. That is, until the Bidhannagar Police finally snagged him.
Ajay K alias Kurapati Ajay – a Bengaluru native who police described as a “headache” for law enforcement agencies across India – was arrested after an extensive manhunt in Kerala.
For the Bidhannagar Police, it marked a significant coup – the man, believed to have been funding a “lavish lifestyle” through cybercrime and facing 13-14 FIRs across India, had eluded the police for years.
According to the police, Kurapati Ajay, trained in ethical hacking, would frequently change his name and forge IDs and certificates to avoid detection. He would then check into hotels and dormitories in metro cities, befriend unsuspecting people, and eventually flee with their possessions – mobiles, laptops, cards and cash.
“He was so elusive that police from multiple states had formed a WhatsApp group to coordinate and track his movements,” said an officer, adding that the suspect is estranged from his family.
Sometimes, the suspect would return the stolen devices after using them by couriering them back to the victims’ addresses, the officer said. “He was a master of self-reinvention. After each theft, he discarded his SIM and Aadhaar cards. He used multiple phones, recycled the same fake name for several SIMs, and stole others’ phones just to generate OTPs for fraudulent transactions. He booked flights and hotel rooms online using false identities, making direct pursuit nearly impossible.”
Kurapati Ajay’s arrest came on the back of the Bidhannagar Police’s investigation into a case filed on July 29. In that case, the complainant, Vinay Kumar, claimed that the suspect stole his phone, wallet, and laptop from a guesthouse where they were both staying. The suspect then allegedly used the victim’s credit card to buy Rs 5 lakh worth of gold and, using the debit card, withdrew money to buy a phone, “duping him of around Rs 50 lakh in total.”
The arrest on Sunday came after a tip that he was in Kerala. According to the police, the team that went to arrest him allegedly found Aadhaar cards, SIM cards, and digital devices in his possession.
Investigators claimed that the suspect had purchased 15 high-end iPhones worth around Rs 15 lakh. They also claimed to have found that he had as many as 38 SIM cards under various identities.
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