The Hyderabad Cybercrime Police arrested three men from Maharashtra on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding a city-based individual of over Rs44 lakh through a bogus online stock trading application.
The arrested individuals are:
Milind Manohar Narkar (34) – Mumbai
Ranak Jagadish Patel (31) – Thane
Salik Imtiyaz Ahmed Siddiqui (25) – Thane
The trio was arrested from their homes and brought to Hyderabad on transit remand.
According to the complaint lodged on June 30, the victim was added to a WhatsApp group called ‘Aveshta Study Group-W’ by individuals posing as stock trading advisors. They promised high returns on investments and persuaded the victim to transfer large sums to multiple bank accounts.
Later, when the victim attempted to withdraw supposed “profits,” the scammers demanded a 20% service fee and cut off all communication once the payment was made.
Cybercrime DCP D Kavitha stated that Milind Narkar converted the stolen funds into cryptocurrency on behalf of a Dubai-based kingpin, and also supervised fund transfers to mule accounts from Mumbai hotels. Meanwhile, Patel and Siddiqui were responsible for sourcing bank accounts and SIM cards used in the fraud.
Police seized three mobile phones from the accused. All three have been remanded to judicial custody, and further investigations are underway to trace the remaining members of the gang, including the Dubai-based handler.
