Mumbai crime branch exposes people who allegedly tried stealing from the COVID-19 casualties

The Mumbai crime branch has exposed a gang of four people who have allegedly tried stealing money from the bank accounts of the people who have died due to COVID-19.

Mumbai crime branch exposes people who allegedly tried stealing from the COVID-19 casualties
SHARES

In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the Mumbai crime branch has exposed a gang of four people who have allegedly tried stealing money from the bank accounts of the people who have died due to COVID-19.

According to sources, the accused have been identified as Shafiq Mehboob Shaikh, 39, Pritesh alias Pintu Bipinchandra Mandaliya, Arshad Rafiq Sayyed and Swapnil Oglekar. Deputy Commissioner of Police Akbar Pathan informed that the crime branch police are investigating the matter further. According to the police, Shafiq is the mastermind of the racket and he was working as a liaison person in the developer’s office.

According to police, the owner of Airlabs Pvt Ltd and Prabhav Properties Ltd succumbed to the coronavirus on June 20. A few days back, the company's manager had lodged a complaint with the Juhu police station stating that important documents were missing from the office. Recognizing the seriousness of the crime, the case was handed over to Crime Branch 11 for investigation. After finding out that there was a lot of money in the owner's account, one of the accused conspired with his accomplices to steal money from the deceased. The second accused had used his photo on the Aadhaar card to get a duplicate number. The third accused was working in a foreign bank. However, he had just returned to India due to the coronavirus induced lockdown.

The accused tried to allegedly steal money from the bank accounts through online transactions by getting the bank account information of the two companies and the owner of that company. Police Inspector Chimaji Adhava of Mumbai Crime Branch Unit 11 got the information and informed his seniors of it. The seniors further asked him to take action accordingly.

Therefore, the police were keeping a close watch on the movements of the accused. The accused had just started the transaction when the crime branch police arrested them on July 25 from a slum cluster in Dahisar.

During the police investigation, it was found that the accused had taken a fake SIM card in the name of Mayat Isma. The online payment app was downloaded for mobile and other online transactions. Moreover, Google Pay, Phone Pay and other online transaction apps were downloaded. The mobile also contained the one-time password required for the transaction. To get a duplicate SIM of the register number linked to the bank of the deceased, a duplicate Aadhar card of the deceased was also made and then the SIM of the same number was then obtained. While almost all the preparations were done, the police caught the gang in the act and foiled their plot. As per sources, all four are residents of Thane.

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