Mumbai: Three held for duping man of Rs 1.09 lakh in KYC racket

Delhi and Jharkhand-based accused at the Matunga police station

Three people were arrested by the Matunga Police on Saturday for allegedly duping a man and buying an expensive mobile phone with the money. The accused were taken into custody from Delhi and Jharkhand. The police suspects the three might have cheated more people.

On December 25, Vasant Chheda, 64, received a text from a person posing as a bank official asking him to update his Know Your Customer (KYC) information. A link was sent to Chheda, which when clicked, generated an OTP. He later received a message that Rs 1.09 lakh had debited from his account. Chheda rushed to Matunga police station and registered an FIR against unknown persons under IPC Section 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention).

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Police found that the money had been siphoned off to a Delhi-based store from where a high-end phone worth the exact amount was purchased on the same date. "Our team was informed that the order was placed online and that the purchaser might come to pick up the phone. A trap was laid and two suspects were arrested," said API Digambar Pagar.

The accused were identified as Saif Ali Usman Ali, 23, Mohammed Kalam Mohammed Sohrab Ansari, 22, from Delhi. "During investigation it was also learnt that the suspects had picked up six to eight more phones from the store. Another accused Arun Kumar Mandal, 24, was arrested from Jharkhand," said Deepak Chavhan, Senior Inspector, Matunga police station. The police learnt that the accused had met in Telangana Jail while serving time for different cases of cheating. After getting bail, they formed a gang running a KYC racket.