Two from Punjab nabbed in Mahesh Bank scam in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Police have arrested two more persons for their involvement in the scam related to Andhra Pradesh Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank. The two accused have been identified as Balvinder Singh and David Kumar from Patiala in Punjab. They allegedly supplied SIM cards that were used in the major hack, siphoning off nearly 13 crore.

According to police, the two accused spilled the beans before the police officer investigating them. They admitted to having supplied the SIM cards that were used in pilfering the money from the bank to as many as 127 bank accounts. Police have so far arrested 23 bank account holders in whose accounts the money was transferred. 

A Nigerian, named Ikpa Stephen Orju, whose is also involved in the case according to police worked closely with the key accused, whose virtual ID was identified as ‘Capital’, who is most likely based in Nigeria. Hyderabad Commissioner  of Police (CP) CV Anand said the bank did not have very secure system for online transactions, which made it an easy target of the hackers. 

The CP, during a press briefing, said that the department is redrafting requests for Blue Corner Notice followed by Red Corner Notice for the Interpol in order to identify the location of the prime accused whose IP address has been identified. We will soon take him into the custody, he said.