Man arrested in Thane for aiding Rs 23 lakh bank account hacking

Representational image

A 32-year old man was arrested on Tuesday evening for helping in hacking into several bank accounts and for possessing a country-made pistol.

The police suspect that the accused, Ramesh Kawaria is a history-sheeter and is part of a larger gang which works across the country. According to the police, the gang buys copies of ID proofs from various agencies.

Senior police inspector, Anil Honrao told Hindustan Times, "People have their mobile numbers linked to various documents - bank account numbers, Aadhaar cards or PAN cards. Kawaria used to look for agencies where people submitted their documents and sold them to his gang for âu00c2u0082¹1000 to âu00c2u0082¹2000 per document."

He added, "The gang then studied the profiles of these people, hacked into their accounts and tracked their online banking activities."

The police said that the gang members would then approach mobile phone stores and claim that their phones were stolen. Then they would submit the copies of the documents which they obtained from Kawaria in order to new SIM cards.

Honrao said, "The original SIM numbers would stop working overnight and the gang, using the duplicate number would hack into people's bank accounts and transfer amounts to other accounts."

The police said that people would usually think that there was an issue with their mobile number but by the time their sim-cards would be re-activated, the money would have already gone.

Honrao added, "Those who are alert and inform early usually help stop transactions in time. The money is transferred in multiple accounts and withdrawn to avoid leaving any paper trail. Kawaria has transferred âu00c2u0082¹23 lakh this way and has cases registered against him in Vanrai police station Mumbai and cyber crime cell in Hyderabad."

Kawaria had been absconding since February and was wanted for bank fraud. The crime branch got a tip-off that Kawaria was residing in Diva. They found an account in his name wherein he had transferred Rs 8 lakh. The accused was caught and was booked under the Arms Act as he also possessed a country-made pistol.

Top News Stories Of The Day

• Mumbai doctor's suicide: Dr Payal Tadvi thought of suicide in November
• Mumbai doctor's suicide: Bruises on Dr Payal Tadvi's back point to murder, says lawyer
• Mumbai doctor's suicide: How were three accused first to find Dr Payal Tadvi's body, ask cops
• Mumbai doctor suicide: What we know so far about Dr Payal Tadvi's death
• Twitter user trolls IRCTC for vulgar ads on app; their epic reply will leave you in splits
• Twitterati celebrate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony
• Granddaughter takes 97-year-old woman for first prom; internet in tears
• See Photos: Large rat snake pops out of shopping cart; supermarket employee gets shock of his life
• Mumbai: Doctor in the dock for burning woman's face in Dahisar
• Mumbai: Jewellery goes missing from City Co-Op Bank's safe in Dahisar
• Check CCTV footage, says accused Lemon Salon hairstylist
• SGNP's star Yash who died of cancer was adopted by Aaditya Thackeray
• Mumbai: BMC chief finds way to fix Hindmata issue
• Will Maharashtra grab all its berths in Modi Cabinet?
• 'The Coastal Road is not only about South Mumbai'
• Explosion of CNG tank led to BEST bus fire near Gokhuldham market, Goregaon
• CSMT bridge collapse: Cops still await BMC sanction to file charge sheet against civic officials
• Amruta Fadnavis brings the house down with rocking performance in USA
• These photos of Narendra Modi will give you major travel goals!
• Love again! These famous people got married more than once
• Differently abled delivery man gets new E-vehicle, Twitter celebrates

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates