Bapatla police bust cybercrime racket exploiting govt schemes

Vijayawada: In a major crackdown on cybercrime, Bapatla district police arrested a gang of fraudsters who were deceiving people by misusing govt welfare schemes. The criminals, operating as part of a nationwide network, used WhatsApp profile pictures of chief ministers to gain public trust and execute their scams.
According to Bapatla superintendent of police (SP) Tushar Dudi, the fraudsters posed as govt health department representatives and contacted victims falsely claiming that financial assistance was sanctioned under the Janani Suraksha Yojana for lactating mothers. To establish credibility, they initially transferred ₹1 into the victim's bank account via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and instructed them to check their balance.
Once the victim checked their account balance, the fraudsters used a screen-sharing application to gain unauthorised access to their mobile screens. By doing so, they could view account details and exploit the victim's funds. The scammers then used the victim's bank details to purchase products through Blinkit, an online delivery platform, and later resold the items for profit.
The scam came to light when a complaint was filed at Chirala Two Town police station regarding a fraudulent transaction amounting to Rs 1.64 lakh under the guise of the Janani Suraksha Yojana scheme. Five victims reported receiving calls from fraudsters posing as govt officials. Upon investigating the joint monitoring information system (JMIS), police identified 36 complaints related to the suspects, totalling frauds worth Rs 16,02,403.
Further inquiries revealed that the accused set up a call centre in Delhi to carry out cyber fraud on a large scale. Call data analysis linked seven IMEI numbers to multiple fraudulent activities. The investigation also exposed that the gang used 96 SIM cards and defrauded 132 individuals, including 107 victims from Andhra Pradesh, 12 from Telangana, and others from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.
The total fraud amount attributed to the gang stood at Rs 66 lakh. Additionally, the JMIS portal flagged their involvement in 12 cybercrime cases across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand.
As part of the Chirala case investigation, police arrested two suspects and seized Rs 1.90 lakh in cash, three mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, two ATM cards, and four bank passbooks. The arrested individuals were identified as Achari Ranjith Singh (27), a Nepalese national currently residing in Allagadda of Nandyal district, Avulamanda Venkata Narayana (22), a native of Prakasam district, and the third accused, Jatin alias Sahil (24) from West Delhi, was arrested earlier and served a legal notice.
Further investigations uncovered that the accused were previously arrested for cyber fraud in cases filed at Porumamilla police station and Kadapa one town police station in Jan 2023.
The JMIS portal confirmed that a staggering 213 FIRs were filed against them across 20 states and four union territories, with their fraudulent activities amounting to Rs 4 crore.
SP Tushar Dudi urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid responding to suspicious calls offering financial benefits under govt schemes. He emphasised that no govt agency would ask for banking details over the phone. Victims of cyber fraud are encouraged to report incidents immediately via the cybercrime helpline number 1930.