Dwarka (Gujarat), Dec 19 (PTI) Police in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district has arrested six persons for alleged involvement in various cyber crimes including sextortion and sale of SIM cards to online fraudsters.
As many as 600 illegally activated SIM cards from Gujarat were supplied to fraudsters through a Rajasthan-based man, said Raghav Jain, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Devbhumi Dwarka.
The arrested men were identified as Hasan Shaikh (25), Altaf Shaikh (25) and Aarif Mirza (25), all three Vadodara-based SIM card retailers; Gopal Gurjar (50), Dalwirsingh Beniwal (30) and Azru Mohammad Mev, all residents of Rajasthan.
While investigating cyber fraud cases registered in the district, police found that the mobile SIM cards used by the fraudsters were registered in the names of Vadodara residents but later operated from Rajasthan, ASP Jain told reporters.
The three accused held from Vadodara were friends and working as SIM card retailers for the last one year, he said.
“Some time ago, the trio came into contact with one Dhansingh Gurjar who offered to buy pre-activated SIM cards for them for Rs 350 apiece. To activate a dummy SIM card, the trio used to take a (genuine) customer’s biometric fingerprint twice — one to activate the original SIM card and another to activate a dummy card — without the customer’s knowledge,” Jain said.
In all, the trio allegedly supplied nearly 600 SIM cards to Dhansingh Gurjar and his father Gopal Gurjar, resident of Ghoghar village in Rajasthan’s Deeg district. While Dhansingh is on the run, Devbhumi Dwarka police raided his house and nabbed Gopal who confessed to have sold SIM cards to various fraudsters, said the official.
Police also nabbed Beniwal from Karauli district of Rajasthan for allegedly duping a Khambhalia-based businessman by posting a Facebook advertisement, said Jain, adding that Beniwal holds an MTech degree.
“Beniwal posted an advertisement for selling articles related to wedding decoration. When the businessman contacted him, the accused asked him to transfer Rs 30,000 online, and stopped responding after getting the money,” said the ASP.
A sixth accused, Azru Mev, was held from Deeg district of Rajasthan.
Mev allegedly extorted Rs 89,000 from a man after recording his fabricated video call with a nude girl and blackmailing him by claiming that the girl committed suicide. Police recovered six mobile phones and 28 pre-activated SIM cards from Mev’s possession, the official said. PTI COR PJT KRK
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