Mumbai Crime: Police arrest stalker, find he is wanted for cyber fraud

Indresh Pandey was a friend of the estranged husband of the woman he targetted

The Bangur Nagar police made a significant arrest, apprehending a fraudster wanted for duping a businessman of R1.5 crore through a bogus scheme, involving the creation of a fake email account in the name of Larsen & Toubro, in a stalking case recently. The 32-year-old accused had stalked a woman at a call centre in 2020. During the investigation, the police found that the accused, identified as Indresh Pandey, was also a person of interest for the South Cyber Cell in the fraud case.

According to police sources, the case against Pandey was initiated in May 2020 following a complaint by a female call center employee. She worked in a call center situated in Malad, where Pandey was also an employee. The police said he would follow and take pictures and videos of the woman and send them to her husband, who would subsequently confront her with alarming details about her whereabouts and interactions.

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Caught red-handed

The victim was the estranged wife of a friend of Pandey's, and stayed separately in Mira Road. She endured severe mental distress as she searched for the person responsible for sending the material to her husband. She unexpectedly caught Pandey red-handed. A heated argument ensued, prompting her to go to the police.

Under the guidance of DCP Ajaykumar Bansal and Senior Inspector Pramod Tavde, the investigation by API Vivek Tambe and API Rahul Bhadarge, culminated in the arrest in Mira Road last week. "During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Pandey had an extensive criminal history related to cyber fraud, with cases registered against him in Karnataka, Telangana, and Mumbai.

Additionally, he was implicated in a rape case in Mira Road, where he allegedly assaulted a female acquaintance on the pretence of marriage. Both the Mira Road and Karnataka police had previously apprehended him, but he remained a fugitive from justice in cases registered in Hyderabad and the South Cyber Police division in Mumbai," said a police officer.

The fraud case

The South Cyber police case from 2022 highlighted Pandey's involvement in a sophisticated phishing scheme. Collaborating with his accomplices, Bhuvneshwar Sharma, Hemant Suliya, and Abhay Patiwar, Pandey had cheated a businessman of approximately Rs 1.5 crore by creating a fraudulent email account resembling that of L&T. While his associates were arrested, Pandey managed to evade capture.

The police said the accused possesses advanced skills in phishing cyber fraud and has international connections, frequently providing phishing accounts to foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians involved in fraudulent activities. Leveraging this knowledge, law enforcement officers devised a plan, posing as a fake customer interested in creating a phishing account, ultimately leading to Pandey's arrest. "Pandey was arrested on September 29 from Mira Road and produced before the court which remanded him in police custody," said another police officer.