The knife and motorcycle used in the commission of crime have been recovered from the accused, the officer added. The Pune City Police’s Cyber Crime wing has arrested eight people, including four IT engineers and a Marathi actor and ad-film maker, for allegedly conspiring to steal and sell data of dormant bank accounts containing deposits of Rs 216 crore.
The alleged fraud came to light after a team from the Cyber Crime Cell received a tip-off that some people were trying to sell stolen data of dormant accounts from two prominent banks.
A senior police officer said that following the initial leads, a trap was laid in Maharshi Nagar area of Pune on Monday. Initially six persons were arrested. These included a person who has acted in a few Marathi films, TV serials and has made a few ad films through his company. He has also been associated with the film wing of a political party and is the son of a veteran film and TV actor. Information given by these suspects further led police to an address on Sinhagad Road, where two more persons were arrested.
“The probe till now has revealed that the suspects in this inter-state racket were planning to sell stolen data of dormant accounts from two prominent banks containing deposits of over Rs 216 crore. We are now probing the modus operandi of the data theft and how the racket was operating. Part of the investigation will be to verify the seized data.” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar. The names of the accused have not been disclosed as the probe is in the early stages, police said.
Besides the accused, a few more people have been detained for questioning, including some from Mumbai. At least 25 lakh cash, cell phones, a car and bikes have been recovered from the suspects, police said.
Senior inspector Rajkumar Waghchavare of the Cyber Crime Cell said, “The eight arrested persons were produced before the court on Tuesday and have been remanded to police custody till March 20.”
When asked whether police have been able to identify the potential buyers of the stolen data, Senior Inspector Rajkumar Waghchavare said, “That is part of the investigation now.”