Pune VIDEO: Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Police Arrest Three For Duping Man Of ₹57.70 Lakh

Pimpri-Chinchwad: The Cyber Police Station within the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) has arrested three people involved in a cryptocurrency scam, looting people of millions. Officials declared their arrest on Monday.

Sahil Anwar Syed (age 22), Bhupendra Awtar Singh (age 34), and Sarfaraz Rafiq Syed (age 29), all residents of Kondhwa, Pune, have been arrested. They have been booked for fraud and other crimes under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita of 2023 and the Information Technology Act of 2000.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr. Shivaji Pawar said that an accountant working in a private company reached out to the Cyber Police and complained about being duped of ₹57,70,670. He had invested his money in the Abbott Wealth App, believing he was investing in cryptocurrency. He was shown profits worth ₹5.15 crore. Police officials said that whenever he tried to withdraw money, he was asked to pay charges. Realising he was duped, he lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police Station.

Once the complaint was registered, police began tracing the money. A Bank of Maharashtra account in the name of Maruf Real Estate was identified. The account owner, Saheblal Maruf, a resident of Kondhwa, was interrogated. With the help of local police, investigators determined that Sahil Syed, Bhupendra Singh, and Sarfaraz Syed were behind the crime. They were detained and had used the money to buy cryptocurrency named USDT. From their bank account, ₹11.93 lakh has been seized. A total of seven cases have been filed against this account.

DCP Dr. Pawar said that all the accused are educated men: Sahil Syed is a BBA student, Bhupendra Singh is a passport agent, and Sarfaraz Syed works in a garage. They are also accused of helping filmmaker Shivam Balkrushna Sanvatsarkar, who was arrested a few weeks ago. Police Inspector Ravikiran Nale, in charge of the Cyber Police Station, is investigating the matter further. The accused are currently under police custody.

The action was conducted under the guidance of Pimpri-Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Vinoy Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr. Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, DCP Dr. Shivaji Pawar, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr. Vishal Hire.

The Cyber Team, led by PI Ravikiran Nale, included Assistant Police Inspector Pravin Swami; Police Sub-Inspectors Vaibhav Patil, Sagar Poman, Rohit Dolas, Prakash Katkade, and Vidya Patil; and Police Constables Deepak Bhosale, Vinayak Mhaskar, Suraj Shinde, Abhijeet Ukirde, Praveen Shelkande, Nitesh Bichewar, Atul Lokhande, Madhav Arote, Shivaji Bansode, Sopan Bodhwad, Santosh Sapkal, Deepali Chavan, Vaishali Barge, and Bhavika Pradhan.