Mumbai: Cyber fraudster arrested from UP turns out to be victim’s relative

A 30-year-old man recently arrested by the Mumbai Police from Uttar Pradesh in a cyber fraud case has turned out to be a distant relative of the complainant. The fraudster, with the help of his wife, managed to transfer and withdraw Rs 2.6 lakh from the complainant’s bank account using an e-wallet, said police.

Accused Pradip Kumar Sahu (30), a factory worker, is a distant relative of complainant Nayankumar Sahu (26), a rickshaw driver.

“Pradip had helped Nayankumar in installing PhonePe app on his cellphone. Nayankumar did not know how to use the e-wallet. After installing the app, Pradip saw that there were few a lakhs of rupees in Nayankumar’s bank account,” said an officer.

On May 14, Pradip stole Nayankumar’s cellphone and transferred Rs 2.6 lakh in two bank accounts at Uttar Pradesh. On May 20, when Nayankumar found out that the money had been debited from his account, he filed a police complaint against unknown persons.

A police team traced the two beneficiaries who had received the money in their accounts. “They help people in opening bank accounts… they said that a woman had approached them and begged them to let her use their bank accounts, as her brother is in hospital and her husband is sending money from Mumbai for treatment,” said the officer.

Senior Inspector Rajesh Nagawade of East Region cyber police station said: “We tracked down the woman, who turned out to be Pradip’s wife. We recovered Rs 1 lakh from the accused.”

“The wife told us that the money was used to build their house in a village in Prayagraj. Pradip was arrested last week,” said Assistant Inspector Prakash Warke.

The police said Pradip’s wife was not arrested on humanitarian grounds, as she has three children to look after. She has been served a notice by the police.