UP police busts gang stealing phones, siphoning money via UPI
Lucknow, June 8: The Lucknow police commissionerate DCP North aligning with the crime branch has busted a cyber gang and arrested five criminals indulged in stealing mobile phones and empty customers’ accounts by creating new UPI IDs. The police recovered a large quantity of 15 mobile phones, seven SIM cards, two ATM cards, and a car along with approximately 22,000 rupees, police reported.
The station house officer of the Sairpur police station Manoj Kumar said that Saroj Kumar, a resident of Badhauli, reported on June 7 that unknown individuals had stolen his mobile phone. Using the stolen mobile phone, 136,000 rupees were withdrawn from his first bank account and 54,000 rupees from his second. Police teams were deployed after taking cognizance of the matter. Using technical evidence, surveillance, CCTV footage, and a network of informants, police arrested five people in a car near Kisan Path on Monday, allegedly involved in mobile theft and online fraud.
He told that among the arrested accused, Satendra Singh alias Ajay, a travel agent from Auraiya, Deshraj, a resident of Shahjahanpur, Praveen Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Hathras, Ramsumiran, a resident of Hardoi, and Satyam, a resident of Auraiya, confessed to their crimes. The accused revealed that they committed mobile thefts at various locations. They exploited the banking applications, mobile numbers, and digital payment features on stolen mobile phones, creating new UPI IDs and transferring and withdrawing funds from account holders’ bank accounts without their knowledge. This organized cyber fraud was carried out in this manner.
