Gang with Pak link duped Indians in Saudi, busted

“This gang promises Indians working in Saudi that they will transfer their money to their relatives in India without any charge.

“Instead, they transfer that money to Pakistan. But they arrange to pay the Indian relatives by extracting money here itself. They target people living in cities such as Hyderabad,” said Inspector Majid Ali Khan.

According to Khan, the accused duped locals in Hyderabad by calling them up from a +92 series number and telling them that their numbers had won a lottery of Rs 25 lakh.

“They would then flood them with calls from different numbers and extract money in the name of customs clearances and Income-Tax certificates. Some people who fell in their trap had deposited more than Rs 1 lakh as processing charges,’’ he said.

The police had zeroed in on three persons — Mohammed Jawed, Lalu, and Mohammed Shakeel, residents of Allahabad — who collected mobile numbers and passed them on to the gang.

“Three other Allahabad-based agents operated fake bank accounts and provided the account numbers to the gang operating from Saudi Arabia. People who fall in their trap are asked deposit money in these accounts. The money was then withdrawn and on instructions from abroad deposited in bank accounts in Pakistan,” the official said.

The police have recovered Rs 15.1 lakh in cash, 4 cell phones, 70 debit cards, fake voter ID cards and 40 rounds of bullets from the accused.