In a significant development, the Ahmedabad Cybercrime Branch has arrested Kartik Singh, a resident of Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a Rs2.39 crore SIM swap fraud that targeted Alkesh Gangani, a businessman from Bodakdev, two years ago.
According to the Cybercrime branch, Alkesh Gangani, aged 34, runs a cotton and thread export business from his Bodakdev office. On July 3, 2022, Gangani’s SIM card was suddenly deactivated after a complaint was filed about a misplaced card. The next day, when Gangani managed to reactivate his SIM, he was alarmed to learn from his business partner that suspicious transactions had taken place. Despite not receiving any notifications or OTPs, Gangani discovered that RS2.39 crore had been debited from his account in 28 transactions.
Gangani reported the fraud to the Cybercrime branch, and during their investigation, officers traced Rs30 lakh from the stolen funds to the bank account of a man named Saurabh Yadav, who was questioned in Goa. Yadav revealed that Kartik Singh, a friend he had met in jail in Azamgarh in 2021, had used his account for the fraudulent transactions. Singh had been imprisoned in a murder case, while Yadav was jailed for an assault case. During their time in jail, Singh had convinced Yadav to let him use his bank account for illicit transactions, contacting him from inside the prison.
The Cybercrime branch officers then tracked Kartik Singh to his native village, Laharpar, in Burhanpur taluka, Azamgarh. On August 13, 2024, Singh was arrested and brought into custody. He was later produced before a local court and remanded to police custody until the next hearing.
The authorities continue to investigate the case, focusing on uncovering further details about the SIM swap fraud network and whether other individuals were involved in facilitating these crimes.