The Andheri cyber police have busted a gang and arrested 10 persons for deceiving nearly 600 unsuspecting people under the guise of Prime Minister Mudra Scheme and other government initiatives for loans. The accused were arrested from Navi Mumbai.
How the gang scammed people
The police said the accused advertised the schemes digitally and sought copies of Aadhaar cards, Pan cards and related documents, which were misused. A woman filed a cheating case related to a government scheme at the Andheri police station. The accused had promised her a government scheme providing a loan of Rs5 lakh at 2% interest, leading to a loss of Rs40,240.
Upon receiving the complaint, the police initiated an investigation, leading them to discover that the gang operated from Navi Mumbai. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a flat in Karanjade, Panvel, where all 10 were arrested. The flat was found to house a fake call centre used to contact and persuade people to take loans under various schemes.
"Accused operated 17 bank accounts; complaints against them in 45 stations"
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-10) Datta Nalawade said, "The police found that the accused operated 17 bank accounts and complaints were registered against them in 45 police stations, including seven in Maharashtra and others in different states. The gang has cheated approximately 500-600 people till date.”
During the raid, the police seized 38 mobile phones, 61 debit cards, 20 cheque books, 37 passbooks, 48 SIM cards, 366.43gm gold valued at Rs21.66 lakh, Rs10 lakh in cash, a four-wheeler, and a laptop. The accused were also involved in making fake stamps.
The main accused holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, while others dropped out of school after Classes 9 or 10. The accused, identified as Sunil Chavan, Bhimashankar Rathod, Sujit Pasi, Chandrashekhar Rathod, Vilas Rathod, Ravi Pawar, Santosh Chavan, Suresh Rathod, Vikas Chavan, and Jaychandra Chavan, all hail from Karnataka and were residing in Navi Mumbai.
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