Mumbai: One held for operating international cyber fraud syndicate

Accused in police custody

The Navi Mumbai cyber police have apprehended a Std 12th pass 32-year-old man at Surat airport for operating an international cyber fraud syndicate. According to police reports, the accused were based in Dubai to evade local law enforcement.

The arrested suspect, identified as Kashikumar Kalyan Bhai Italiya, 34, from Surat, previously worked in diamond trading in Surat and Mumbai. A case filed with the Navi Mumbai Cyber police involved a victim defrauded of Rs 1.23 crore under the guise of promising high returns in the stock market, which turned out to be fraudulent. The investigation commenced after the case was registered in August 2023.

Gajanan Kadam, senior police inspector of Navi Mumbai Cyber police, said.

After the case was filed, our investigation traced the cash from the victim's account to an account belonging to Italiya. Italiya was discovered to be operating from Dubai, prompting us to issue a lookout circular (LoC) and monitor his movements closely. Last month, upon his arrival at Surat airport, immigration officers flagged him as suspicious and alerted us. Subsequently, we detained and arrested him to further investigate the matter in custody.

An amount of approximately Rs 27 lakh, which was fraudulently obtained from a victim in Navi Mumbai, was transferred to Italiya's bank account. We have frozen his accounts and seized approximately Rs 47 lakh in total. Additionally, we have identified two other suspects involved in the case. We are actively pursuing their arrest.
The police said that as Indian agencies began making arrests and increasing vigilance against cyber criminals operating within the country, these criminals have now shifted their operations to places like Dubai, Cambodia, and other locations to evade arrest and continue their fraudulent activities targeting people back home.

Rs 1.23cr
Amount a victim was defrauded off