Cyber fraud racket with Dubai links busted in Mumbai; mastermind, who supplied bank account details to foreign handlers, among 4 arrested

Besides Waseem, the others arrested have been identified as Abdulla Lare Ahmed Shaikh, 24; Noor Alam Ashiq Ali Khan, 42; and Manish Kotesh Nandala, 30. Two other accused, Abdul Khaliq Abdul Qadir Khan, 31, and Arbaaz Fazlani, are currently absconding, while Mohsin and Zafar, who are residing in Dubai, are also listed as absconding. According to the police, acting on a tip-off, Sub Inspector Sagar Jadhav and Constable Kiran Kore, along with other officers, raided the Gateway Star hotel near the airport in Sakinaka on Tuesday morning. They apprehended the mastermind, Waseem, in one of the hotel rooms.

Waseem, a resident of Bengaluru, had allegedly been coordinating with overseas contacts Mohsin and Zafar to facilitate fraudulent transactions utilising Indian bank accounts.

Upon interrogation and a review of Waseem’s mobile call records and social media messages, the police discovered that he had been sending bank account details, including cheque books, debit cards, and linked SIM cards, to Mohsin and Zafar in Dubai. The investigation confirmed that the overseas suspects had received these bank details from their associates in Mumbai. The police said that during further questioning, Waseem disclosed that he had obtained bank account details from five associates: Abdulla Lare Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Kurla; Noor Alam Ashiq Ali Khan of Virar (East); Manish Kotesh Nandala from Dombivli (West); and the absconding suspects, Abdul Khaliq Abdul Qadir Khan and Arbaaz Fazlani.

During the raid, authorities recovered multiple mobile phones, a passport, a UAE ID card, and seven SIM cards from Waseem. The police said that he confessed that Abdulla, Noor, and Manish were scheduled to meet him at the Sai guest house in Sakinaka. A police team then visited the location, arrested the three men, and seized several documents, debit cards, and SIM cards linked to fraudulent accounts.

The police registered a case against the accused under sections 318 (4) (cheating) and 3(5) [common intention] of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with charges under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

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