Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : Cantonment police have busted an alleged interstate financial fraud racket and arrested five men accused of procuring bank accounts, SIM cards and merchant payment accounts in the names of poor people and using them to route illicit transactions.
Police seized an SUV, 23 merchant QR codes, 31 payment sound boxes, mobile phones, SIM cards, bank documents and other material collectively valued at Rs 12.4 lakh. The arrested accused are Gaurav Chand Mohanlal (25), Vivek Gurudayal Mulodiya (32), Uddesh Prem Singh Bainade (26), Mahesh Shivaji Ghare (27) and Shahbaz Siddiqui (19). The racket came to light during night patrols on Oct 13. Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a black Rajasthan-registered SUV near an open ground opposite Suryatej Residency on Daulatabad Road at Padegaon around 1.10 am.
During questioning, one of the accused allegedly revealed that a rented flat at Suryatej Residency was being used to operate the racket.
Police commissioner Pravin Pawar said investigators are now tracing the money trail. The occupants gave evasive replies and failed to produce valid vehicle documents, according to Cantonment police station in-charge API Vivek Jadhav. The first two are from Rajasthan , while the others are from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and nearby areas. Police suspect the gang obtained identity documents from financially vulnerable people through inducements and false promises, then used them to open bank accounts, merchant accounts and procure SIM cards and QR codes. Such accounts are commonly known as mule accounts and are often used to route fraudulent transactions. The accused have been booked under various provisions of the BNS and the Maharashtra Police Act.