Bhubaneswar, April 23: In a major breakthrough, cyber police have busted an inter-state cyber fraud racket after a six-month-long operation, arresting key members linked to the notorious Jamtara gang. The accused were involved in duping people by sending fake RTO challan links and siphoning off large sums of money.
The incident surfaced after Jashwant Jena lodged a complaint at the cyber police station, alleging fraud through a fake RTO challan link. According to the complaint, he received a suspicious link on the 12th of the month. After clicking on it, his mobile phone was allegedly hacked, rendering several functions inoperative for two days.
On the 14th, Jena received an alert that ₹7 lakh had been debited from his bank account. The victim, who had saved the money to build his dream home, was left shocked by the sudden loss.
Acting swiftly, cyber police registered a case and launched a detailed investigation. Multiple teams were formed to track the accused, who were kept under continuous surveillance. The operation culminated in the arrest of the kingpin and three associates.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Salman, and Mohammad Aamir from Telangana. Police said the trio created mule bank accounts and supplied them to the alleged mastermind, Mukesh Turi of the Jamtara gang, who is reportedly a matriculation dropout. The gang used these accounts to route and withdraw the defrauded money.
Investigations revealed that the gang used malicious APK files to execute the fraud. Besides fake RTO challan links, they employed various tactics to target victims. Once downloaded, the APK files enabled the fraudsters to gain complete control over victims’ mobile devices and access sensitive data.
Police have cautioned the public against downloading or clicking on unknown APK files or suspicious links. Further investigation is underway, and more arrests are likely.
In connection with the case, two accused from Jharkhand and two others from Sangareddy in Hyderabad have also been arrested.
