Four arrested for deceiving by claiming to be speaking from Narcotics, action Initiated by cyber cell of Pimpri-Chinchwad

Pune: In a significant crackdown, the Cyber Cell of Pimpri-Chinchwad police has arrested four individuals for deceiving a woman of Rs 24.99 lakh by claiming to be officials from the Narcotics Department. The arrested individuals are Swarup Ashok Khambe (42) from Kopargaon, Ahmednagar, Pushkar Chandrakant Pakhale from Chkhaliisgaon, Jalgaon, and Monik Bharatbhai Rangolia and Kaushik Mansukhbhai Borad, both from Surat.

The incident began when a 38-year-old woman from Baner received a phone call from an unidentified person pretending to be from FedEx Courier Company in Mumbai. The woman registered a case at the Hinjewadi police station. According to Deputy Police Commissioner Sandeep Doiphode, the caller falsely informed her that a parcel in her name containing drugs was being sent to Iran and that the matter was being transferred to the Narcotics Department. The victim was then connected to another individual who posed as a Narcotics official and convinced her that the parcel had been intercepted by customs officials. She was instructed to either come to Mumbai to clear the matter or resolve it through an online Skype call. The accused gained access to the victim’s mobile through the Skype app and took around Rs 24.99 lakh.

Hinjewadi police are investigating the case, and simultaneously, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Cell is also investigating. The Cyber Cell received information about the bank details of the alleged accused and, after identifying him, took him into custody. During the investigation, the police discovered three of his accomplices and arrested them from Jalgaon and Surat. Transactions exceeding two crore rupees have been made from the accounts used by the suspects. Sixty-seven cases have been registered against these accounts.

The action was initiated by Police Inspector Anil Devde, Assistant Police Inspector Pravin Swami, Sub-Inspector Sagar Poman, and constables Deepak Bhosle, Atul Lokhande, Nitesh Bichewar, Saurabh Ghate, Shrikant Kabule, and Swapnil Khanse under the guidance of Assistant Police Commissioner Vishal Hire.