In a first, Pimpri Chinchwad police invoke MCOCA against gang of cyber fraudsters

During the investigation, police managed to freeze Rs 2.65 crore from these accounts. A court has now allowed this amount to be returned to the complainant. Officials said the money trail led them to several account holders and operatives linked to the racket, following which raids were conducted across Pune, Kolhapur, Dahisar in Mumbai, Aurangabad and Udaipur in Rajasthan.

The nine arrested were identified as Abhay Babasaheb Patil (34), Shivtej Rajendra Pote (30), Yuvraj alias Santosh Satish Mudaliyar (35), Ronnie alias Pankaj Mangu Girigosavi (24), Pralhad Prithviraj Gadari (23), Umesh Laxmilal Bhatt (21), Mahesh Karbasappa Udachane (28), Rahul Bahadurprasad Maurya (24) and Sheikh Abdul Rahis Sheikh Abdul Rashid (26).

Police said the accused were part of an organised gang that targeted people through social media platforms. They would first build trust by showing fake profits on the app and then pressure victims to invest larger amounts. Once the money was transferred, it was quickly moved through several accounts and, in some cases, converted into virtual currency such as USDT to make tracing difficult.

Investigators found that the accused were in contact with international handlers and used digital platforms to coordinate the movement of funds. Police also said the group is suspected to be involved in several similar offences in Pimpri Chinchwad, Mumbai and other parts of the country.

Based on the organised nature of the crime, repeated offences and financial gains involved, police sought and received approval to invoke MCOCA sections against all nine accused. The action, carried out by the sleuths from Pimpri Chinchwad police’s Cyber crime police station under the supervision of Police Commissioner Vinoy Kumar Choubey.