Wednesday, 14 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The cyber crime police station of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested another hawala operator and cyber fraudster involved in over 3,200 cyber fraud cases across the country from Maharashtra’s Mahabaleshwar. He is also allegedly involved in national level cyber crime amounting to at least Rs 21 crore, the deputy superintendent of police of STF’s cyber crime police station Ankush Mishra said. The accused identified as Yusuf Mirza Khan (46) is a resident of Surat in Gujarat and has been actively involved in cyber crimes and hawala operations. Mishra said that the STF found during the investigation that the accused and his gang are associated with a total of 159 criminal cases and 3,272 cyber crimes nationwide. He was apprehended from Mahabaleshwar based on technical evidence and intelligence gathered by Uttarakhand police.
According to the investigation, the accused used fake SIM cards, various mobile handsets and fake bank accounts to commit crimes. He used to dupe people under the pretext of giving huge profits through mutual fund investments.
The DSP informed that the accused has allegedly duped a man in Uttarakhand of about Rs one crore. He is linked to cyber fraud in almost all States of the country. He is linked to 54 cyber fraud cases in Uttarakhand alone, Mishra said. Besides this, he is also wanted for 159 cases in States like Telangana (62), Chandigarh (2), Delhi (15), Bihar (7), Maharashtra (2), Gujarat (6), Haryana (8), Chattisgarh (4), Karnataka (15), Andhra Pradesh (3) and Uttar Pradesh (19). The STF had also arrested two accomplices of the accused, a Karnataka resident Mehmood Sharif (40) and a Kerala resident Vaishyak Unnikrishnan (34) last month.
The STF is investigating the matter and will connect with the authorities concerned in other States too, the DSP said. He also appealed to the public not to make online transactions for quick profits. If one becomes a victim of such scams, the victim should immediately register a complaint in the nearest police station or contact at cyber helpline number 1930 as maximum complaints against culprits by the victims can help the authorities to nab them sooner, he added.
