Cyber Police Station Shahdara busts fake DSA gang; two arrested, 6.95 lakh recovered

The Cyber Police Station Shahdara has busted a gang allegedly involved in cheating people by impersonating Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) of private banks and financial institutions, arresting two persons and recovering Rs 6.95 lakh in connection with an alleged Rs 15 lakh loan/overdraft fraud, police said.

The Cyber Police Station Shahdara has busted a gang allegedly involved in cheating people by impersonating Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) of private banks and financial institutions, arresting two persons and recovering Rs 6.95 lakh in connection with an alleged Rs 15 lakh loan/overdraft fraud, police said. The arrested accused have been identified as Adeeb Khan (36), allegedly the mastermind of the gang, and Aneesh Ali, who allegedly provided a mule bank account and assisted in cash withdrawals. Their associate Rajendra is absconding, police said.

According to police, the case came to light after complainant Akshay Verma, who was seeking an overdraft/loan facility, came in contact with Adeeb Khan. Khan allegedly posed as a DSA of Bajaj Finserv and other private banks and offered to arrange a loan facility at a low interest rate. Police said that after gaining the complainant's confidence, Khan allegedly asked him to send three cheques, including a blank signed cheque of Rs 15 lakh, through a delivery service to an address at KM Trade Towers in Kaushambi. The complainant allegedly never met the accused personally.

The Rs 15 lakh cheque was allegedly misused, and the amount was deposited into a mule Canara Bank account. Police said the money was subsequently withdrawn through two cheques, resulting in the alleged fraud. Following the complaint, the Cyber Police team conducted technical and financial analysis of the mule account, mobile numbers, IMEI/IMSI details, CDR, IPDR, WhatsApp chats and the transaction and withdrawal trail.

The investigation led to the identification and tracing of the accused, following which Adeeb Khan and Aneesh Ali were apprehended on September 25, police said. A total of Rs 6.95 lakh in cash, comprising 1,390 Rs 500 notes, was recovered from the accused, according to police.

Police said the cheated amount was allegedly divided among the accused, with Rs 9 lakh going to Adeeb Khan, Rs 3 lakh to Aneesh Ali and Rs 3 lakh to absconding accused Rajendra. During the investigation, police allegedly found that Khan had previously worked as a DSA for various private banks and was working as a third-party DSA on commission with Bajaj Finserv.

Taking advantage of his experience and professional contacts, Khan allegedly identified people looking for loan or overdraft facilities and contacted them through WhatsApp. He allegedly impersonated himself as a genuine DSA and offered financial facilities at attractive interest rates. After gaining the victims' confidence, he allegedly obtained cheques and documents on the pretext of processing loan or OD facilities and subsequently misused them, police said.

Further investigation is underway to apprehend the absconding accused, recover the remaining amount, trace the complete money trail, identify other mule accounts and associates and ascertain whether other victims were allegedly cheated using the same modus operandi. (ANI)