Ahmedabad: The City Cyber Crime Branch has busted a Jamtara-based cyber fraud racket that allegedly compromised mobile phones using malicious APK files and targeted victims across the country.

The probe began after one Naresh Devanand Sabnani, from Hansol, lodged a complaint stating that he had lost Rs 6.68 lakh in an online fraud. He alleged that he received a WhatsApp message as an alert from Sabarmati Gas Limited, which stated that his gas connection would be cut unless he immediately updated his bill details.

The fraudsters, pretending to be company representatives, convinced him to download a fake application called Sabarmati Gas Bill Update.apk. After the app was installed, they allegedly gained remote access to his mobile phone and siphoned off Rs 6,68,914 from his HDFC Bank account.

Following technical analysis, the Cyber Crime Branch traced the key members of the racket. The alleged developer of the malicious APK, Purnanand alias Mukesh Tiwari, was arrested from a moving train travelling from Kolkata to Sairang with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Police also arrested two other alleged associates in Jharkhand. Vikas Das is accused of distributing the malicious links to nearly 400 people, while Sitaram Mandal allegedly supplied debit and credit card details that were used to withdraw the stolen money.

The gang laundered the stolen money through SBI YONO’s cardless cash withdrawal facility, making it difficult to trace the transactions and reducing their digital footprint, the police said. DeshGujarat