Surat Cybercrime Branch busts racket involved in sending bank account kits and SIM cards to Dubai

Surat: The Surat Cyber Crime Branch Police has busted a racket involved in opening new bank accounts and sending their instant kits and SIM cards to Dubai. The police have arrested six people near the Simada Canara Bank branch, and eleven individuals, including two network operators from Dubai, have been declared wanted.

The gang reportedly used social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram to lure individuals into opening accounts in exchange for a substantial commission ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹1.5 lakh. These bank accounts were subsequently sold to the Dubai gang members for ₹1.5 lakh each.

The arrested individuals are Raj Raiyani, 28, a resident of Bade Hanuman Society in Bhavnagar; Vijay Od, 23, from Lakshmi Residency in Kamrej; Mahesh Bhadiyadara, 34, from Marutidham Society, Mota Varachha, Bhavnagar; Chandres Kakadiya, 27, from Sitanagar Society in Amreli; Hardik Desai, 28, from Vastu Shilp Heights in Mota Varachha, Amreli; and Thanigaivel Thirugnanam, 30, from New Street, Ammapet, Salem, Tamil Nadu.

The following 11 individuals have been declared wanted: Vijay Parmar (Dubai), Mukesh Parmar, Milan Darji (Dubai), Mayank Sojitra, Arun (Chennai), Ajay Kakadia, also known as Bhagat, Tushar, Raju, Nilesh Vaghasia, Mitesh Patel, and Ketan Vaghela.

The police have recovered nine mobile phones, one tablet, 16 Canara Bank account kits, 19 debit cards from various banks, 78 SIM cards from different mobile companies, one HDFC Bank passbook, one HDFC Bank cheque book, six Canara Bank account opening forms, one PAN card, and five Aadhaar cards belonging to different individuals. Most of the recovered kits are from Canara Bank, raising suspicions about the involvement of a bank employee in the scam. The police have begun investigating this possibility as well.

According to police reports, Raj Raiyani and Vijay Od enticed people with commission offers to open bank accounts at Canara Bank in Sarthana near Seemada Naka. Later, their account details, debit cards and SIM cards were then sent to Dubai. Upon receiving information about the scam, the Cybercrime Unit conducted a operation and arrested the perpetrators.

The investigation revealed that Raj Raiyani attracted individuals with commission offers and provided account kits, including cheque book and debit cards, to Vijay Parmar. Vijay’s brother, Mukesh Parmar, acted as a liaison, managing the financial network. Commissions ranged from ₹10,000 to ₹1.5 lakh, with additional commissions for transactions made using the accounts.

During interrogation, Vijay Parmar revealed that he had been in contact with Arun in Chennai via Telegram for the past five months. Arun was supposed to receive account kits and SIM cards via courier. Dhanigauvel, Arun’s brother, traveled to Surat to collect the kits and was staying at the Purple Hotel. The police intercepted Dhanigauvel before he could collect the kits. The investigation is ongoing, focusing on transactions made using these accounts and further unraveling the scam. DeshGujarat