Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Jul 30: The DB Marg police have arrested a 26-year-old teacher from Jharkhand for his alleged involvement in a nationwide cyber fraud network involving financial losses of over Rs 63.69 crore.
The accused, identified as SK Mandal, was arrested in West Bengal on July 24 while allegedly attempting to evade police. Investigators said Mandal developed and sold fake Android application package (APK) files that were used by cybercriminals to target thousands of victims across India.
The case came to light after a Mumbai resident filed a complaint on July 3. According to police, the victim received a message allegedly from Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) asking him to download an APK file for a KYC update.
After installing the application, the victim's mobile banking credentials were reportedly compromised, following which Rs 70,700 was fraudulently withdrawn from his account.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
During the investigation, police traced the digital trail of the fake APK files through technical surveillance. Officials alleged that Mandal had sold 91 malicious APK files to cybercriminals operating across the country.
These applications were allegedly used to target 2,993 victims through 9,192 banking transactions, causing a total financial loss of Rs 63,69,68,174, police said.
During the arrest, investigators seized 10 mobile phones, one laptop, seven SIM cards, four debit and credit cards, 967 fake APK files and confidential banking-related data of nearly 37,200 customers.
A police official said the seized APK files were ready to be distributed among cybercriminals and could have resulted in further large-scale financial losses.
"The 967 APK files recovered from the accused had been created and were ready to be sold. If they had been circulated, they could have caused losses of over Rs 1,000 crore. By arresting the accused and recovering the files, we have prevented a major cyber fraud operation," the official said.
Police are continuing their investigation to identify other members of the cybercrime network and trace the extent of the fraud operations.