CHANDIGARH, July 13 —Chandigarh Police have busted an inter-state cyber fraud racket and arrested three individuals for duping two residents of Sector 39-B, including a doctor, of a total ₹36.2 lakh through sophisticated online scams.
The accused were operating across Kolkata (West Bengal), Manimajra (Chandigarh), and North 24 Parganas, and were apprehended following a series of targeted raids by the cybercrime unit.
The first case was reported by Shukla Mahajan, who discovered unauthorised transactions from her IndusInd Bank account after receiving multiple OTP alerts on February 28. Police found that ₹2 lakh had been fraudulently transferred to an ICICI Bank account in the name of Waris Ali, 29, a resident of Alipore, Kolkata.
Based on technical surveillance and KYC trail analysis, a police team raided Kolkata on July 10 and arrested Ali. During interrogation, he admitted to opening the account and handing over his ATM card and documents to another individual for a commission of ₹20,000. Investigators identified him as a money mule — someone who leases out their identity and bank accounts for illegal financial activity.
In the second case, Dr. Chhitranjan Singh Brar was conned by fraudsters impersonating officials from the Reserve Bank of India. The scammers tricked him with promises of early insurance maturity and a 20% bonus, coaxing him into transferring ₹34.20 lakh in multiple transactions to various bank accounts.
The investigation tracked one suspect, Afzal Hussain, 31, to Manimajra. After his arrest, Hussain revealed the involvement of another key figure — Sonu, 37, from North 24 Parganas — who was apprehended on July 8. Sonu was found to be providing the backend infrastructure for the racket, including fake SIM cards, forged KYC documents, and fraudulent bank accounts.
“This network operated in multiple layers — Waris Ali acted as a money mule, Afzal Hussain posed as an RBI officer to interact with victims, and Sonu managed the digital logistics of the fraud,” said a senior cybercrime officer.
Chandigarh Police said the trio are part of a wider cybercrime syndicate operating across state borders. Further investigation is underway to identify additional accomplices and victims.
