Ahmedabad: The cybercrime branch of the city police has busted a gang involved in a Paytm Soundbox fraud, which duped shopkeepers across Gujarat out of lakhs of rupees. The police arrested six individuals, including the mastermind—a former Paytm employee—who allegedly carried out the scam by gaining access to victims’ banking apps and siphoning off money under the guise of a fee reduction.

The case came to light when a shopkeeper from Vasna lost ₹6 lakh to fraud and approached the police. According to the complaint, in December last year, two fraudsters posing as Paytm representatives misled Jayesh Desai (57) into believing that the monthly Soundbox charge had been reduced from ₹99 to ₹1. After gaining access to his phone, they applied for a debit card and withdrew ₹5.66 lakh from his account.

The arrested suspects include Govind Khatik (23) from Jaipur, Brijesh Patel (30) from Mehsana, Parag Mistry (24) from Sirohi, Raj Patel (28) from Patan, and Deluxe Suthar (27) and Pritam Suthar (26) from Pali. Operating for over three years, the group targeted shopkeepers in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand, Nadiad, Kheda, Kalol, and Mehsana, with fraud amounts ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹6 lakh per victim.

Brijesh Patel, the mastermind behind the operation, was dismissed from Paytm in 2021 for fraud. He later devised the plan and recruited others to execute it.

The accused have been booked for cheating, identity theft, and fraudulent transactions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with violations under the IT Act. Authorities have seized eight mobile phones and ₹25,500 in cash, with further investigations ongoing. DeshGujarat