Nagpur: In a recent case reported at the Cyber Police Station in Nagpur city, a complaint was lodged by Mr. Sweta Kumar Trilochan Panigrahi, a 36-year-old Assistant Bank Manager at ICICI Bank, Nagpur. Mr. Panigrahi reported that he had received an email regarding the freezing and unfreezing of his bank account. The email claimed to be from the Maharashtra Cyber Police, sent from the ID cybercrimecell-nagpur@maharashtrapolice.in.
Upon receiving the email, Mr. Panigrahi grew suspicious and verified the email ID, only to find that it did not have the official “gov.in” domain. Realizing it was a fake, he reported the matter to the Cyber Police Station in Nagpur. Following an investigation, it was confirmed that the email ID was fraudulent, and it had been used to send emails to multiple banks.
On July 6, 2024, a case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, 2000, against the unknown individuals responsible for creating and using the fake email ID. The case was registered under sections 170, 419, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC, along with Section 66 (C) of the IT Act.
During the investigation, technical analysis revealed that the fake email ID had been used to send emails to several banks, including ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, A U Small Finance Bank, Federal Bank, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Kotak Bank. Further investigations led to the identification of two suspects from Mumbai:
1. Pradyumna Anil Singh, residing at Room No. 26, Azad Chawl, Appa Pada, near Machhi Market, Azad Nagar, Kurar Village, Malad East, Mumbai.
2. Shubham Pitambar Sahu, residing opposite Mehul Cinema, Indira Nagar, JN Road, Mulund West, Mumbai.
A team led by Sub-Inspector Maruti Shelke, along with police officers Chandrashekhar and Bablu Thakur, was dispatched to Mumbai with the necessary permissions. The team apprehended the two suspects and brought them to Nagpur, where they were formally arrested.
The investigation revealed that the accused had created the fake email ID to defraud people by freezing their bank accounts. They would then receive calls from the victims seeking to unfreeze their accounts, at which point the accused would impersonate senior Cyber Police officers and demand payment equivalent to the frozen amount. Once the payment was made, they would unfreeze the accounts using the same fake email ID.
Under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimit Goyal and Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr. Abhijeet Patil, the investigation was conducted by Inspector Amit Dolas, Amol Deshmukh, Sub-Inspector Vijay Bhise, Sub-Inspector Maruti Shelke, and officers Chandrashekhar Dadmal, Bablu Thakur, Rohit Matale, and Sushil Changole of the Cyber Police Station. Their technical expertise played a crucial role in solving the case. The two accused are currently in police custody until August 14, 2024, and further investigations are ongoing.
