ADILABAD: In a major crackdown on cybercrime, Adilabad Two Town Police and cybercrime police Tuesday arrested five interstate fraudsters and seized 2,125 old mobile phones, 107 SIM cards, five two-wheelers of Bihar and 600 batteries from them.
Speaking to the media, Adilabad SP Akhil Mahajan said that the main accused (A1) is absconding and will be arrested soon. A team will also be formed and sent to Bihar.
The SP said that as part of a plan to commit cybercrimes across the country, a gang of six from Bihar was formed. Thabaraq, the gang leader and A1, sent the other five to Telangana along with five two-wheelers.
The gang then travelled on two-wheelers, collecting old mobile phones, SIM cards and batteries from rural areas and towns in exchange for plastic tiffin boxes. They stored the collected devices in a room in Gudithanoor. Later the mobile phones were handed over to Thabaraq in Bihar, he added.
Akhil Mahajan said that then Thabaraq and his associates contacted people across the country, posing as bank officials, promising them jobs, or claiming they had won lotteries. They deceived victims in various ways, obtained OTPs, and illegally transferred money from their bank accounts.
He added that they had previously collected about 10,000 to 12,000 mobile phones from Karnataka and committed similar crimes. They used the old mobile phones and SIM cards with the intention of not getting caught by the police.
The SP said that a case has been registered against the six members under various sections on the BNS.