Mumbai: Three arrested for aiding cyber scammers in Cambodia

The three men arrested are all graduates. Representation Pic

The Bangur Nagar police have arrested three men from Ahmedabad and Surat for helping cyber criminals who scammed people from Cambodia by providing bank accounts. The accused identified as Uttam Sakhia, Pritesh Waghalia, and Sahil Kashadiya were paid for their role.

A resident of Goregaon in Mumbai filed a complaint. In February, he saw an ad on his phone about making money from home. After clicking on it, he received messages offering payment for watching ads and joined a VIP Telegram group. After watching four ads, he received Rs 120. He was then asked to deposit money, which he thought was legitimate. He invested Rs 5,68,000 but could not withdraw the money and realised he had been scammed. He reported the incident to the Bangur Nagar police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Anand Bhoite, along with Assistant Inspectors Vivek Tambe and Kishore Tawde and Senior Inspector Pratod Tawde, led the investigation. They traced the money to Uttam's account, leading to his arrest in Ahmedabad. During questioning, they learned about Pritesh, who was also arrested, followed by Sahil in Surat.

The three men, all graduates, worked under Sahil Kashadiya, an IT graduate who set up bank accounts for the fraudulent deposits, earning a 1 per cent commission for each transaction. Uttam managed the deposits, while Pritesh found rental bank accounts for Sahil. They earned Rs 1 lakh in total from their activities. "The trio were arrested in Ahmedabad and Surat a few days ago and brought to Mumbai. They appeared in court yesterday and were remanded to police custody," said an officer from Bangur Nagar. The investigation is ongoing.