HYDERABAD: Kochi City police have arrested a Hyderabad native who swindled Rs 3.5 lakh after hacking into the user credit account of Kochi-based Sam Travels on Indigo Airlines’ website. Amir Hussain, who runs Sky King Tours and Travels, then used the account to book Indigo flight tickets, the police said. He was arrested based on a complaint from Sam Travels, with the incident having happened in March.
Though similar crimes were reported from different parts of the country, it had become difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace the culprits as they used a VPN and fake email addresses to book tickets. The requirement of the name of a passenger to book domestic tickets was also proving to be a headache to trace such frauds. However, Kochi City Cybercrime Police traced a passenger who had purchased a ticket from Hussain to travel from Kolkata to Hyderabad. On interrogation, the passenger revealed the name of the accused. The city police then proceeded to track Hussain down.
He was arrested from the Sky King Tours and Travels office at Mehdi in Hyderabad. The police seized the laptop and mobile phones used to commit the crime, and also the credit and debit cards of various banks during the search conducted at the establishment.