Crime
Maha Cyber arrests one in 4.97 lakh online share market investment fraud case
One person has been arrested by Maharashtra Cyber in connection with a Rs 4.97 lakh online share market investment fraud case, officials said on Tuesday.
The complaint was filed by 42-year-old Kalyan, who was allegedly induced to invest money through an online trading application after being approached through a social media advertisement and a WhatsApp group operating under the name “Breakthrough Communication”, according to the officials.
As per the complaint, the fraud took place between August 25 and September 23, when Kalyan came across a social media advertisement referring to Susquehanna International Group and subsequently joined a WhatsApp group.
“A person using the name ‘Shikha Sharma’ allegedly contacted the complainant, provided investment-related guidance, and encouraged him to invest in the share market through a trading application. Believing the representations to be genuine, the complainant transferred a total amount of 4.97 lakh into eight different bank accounts,” officials said.
After suspecting financial fraud, Kalyan reported the matter through the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930 on September 27.
Subsequently, an FIR was registered at the Nodal Cyber Police Station, Maharashtra Cyber, under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), read with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Officials said that following this, Maharashtra Cyber initiated an investigation to trace the financial transactions and identify the persons involved in facilitating the fraud.
“During the investigation, the police examined the banking trail and the movement of the defrauded funds across multiple accounts. The investigation revealed that the money had moved through various bank accounts,” they added.
According to officials, further inquiry indicated that the funds received in an account belonging to Nikhil Kamble were allegedly withdrawn in cash and handed over to the arrested accused, Mohammed Ali Kapadia, through an intermediary arrangement.
Mohammed Ali Kapadia (23) appeared before the investigating officer on October 26. During questioning, his alleged role in receiving and disposing of cash linked to the fraudulent transactions came under investigation. He was subsequently arrested in connection with the case, officials said.
They added that the investigation further indicates that the accused may have acted in coordination with other persons to facilitate the withdrawal of money generated through cyber fraud.
Crime
Tiger Shroff firing case: Crime Branch probes arrested women visit to Bandra Bandstand, suspects possible reconnaissance

The Mumbai Crime Branch is investigating whether two women, Babita and Radha, arrested in connection with the firing at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car, conducted reconnaissance in Mumbai’s Bandra Bandstand area, where several prominent film personalities, including actor Salman Khan, reside.
According to a Mumbai Crime Branch official, the investigation revealed that the two women visited the Bandra Bandstand area after arriving in Mumbai. Investigators are now examining the purpose of their visit and whether they conducted reconnaissance of the residences of film personalities in the locality.
The official said the information about the women’s movements emerged from an analysis of their mobile phones and other technical evidence. However, investigators are yet to establish whether the visit was connected to any potential plan targeting film personalities.
The Crime Branch is also examining the alleged links of the arrested women with Anil Pandit, who remains absconding in the case. According to the police, the two women were in contact with Pandit, and their remand was obtained to question them further about the information that has emerged during the investigation.
Police officials said evidence recovered from the mobile phones of the arrested women indicated that they were aware of the purpose of their visit to Mumbai.
The police are also investigating whether the accused, most of whom are suspected to be originally from Haryana, received assistance from a local person in Mumbai. Investigators suspect that a local contact may have helped the alleged gang members execute their plan and are searching for the person.
According to the Crime Branch, eight of the 11 accused arrested in the case were directly in contact with the alleged main accused, Anil Pandit. Investigators are trying to establish the individual roles of the accused and determine how the alleged network operated.
Earlier, the Mumbai Crime Branch, in coordination with Madhya Pradesh Police, detained a suspect in Indore for allegedly providing logistical and financial support to a network linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with the October 18 firing incident.
Indore Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotia confirmed the detention, stating that it was carried out during a joint operation by the Mumbai and Indore Crime Branch teams. The latest detention took the number of accused apprehended in the case to 11, according to reports.
Crime
Nepali gang arrested for murder of retired IPS officer’s wife in Hyderabad

More than five months after Tanuja Ranjan, wife of retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ray Vinay Ranjan, was brutally murdered at their residence in Hyderabad, police on Monday arrested four Nepalese.
Those arrested include the domestic worker, Dharma Tiruwa alias Kalpana, who had worked at the victim’s residence.
The arrests were made following a five-month-long investigation spanning several states and the India-Nepal border.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar announced the arrests at a press conference.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing rising property offences committed by Nepali gangs across the three Police Commissionerates, arrested four accused near Nampally Railway Station on Monday (October 26).
Dharma alias Kalpana, 26, is from Surkhet district in Nepal. Ganesh B.K. alias Ganesh Bishwakarma alias Dinesh Thapa, 31, is a labourer who was residing in Pune; Chandra Bahadur Tamang alias Ranjeet Thapa alias Shanker Chandra Lama alias Kancha, 44, a cook whose listed Indian address is in Gurugram, Haryana; and Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, 37, a watchman who was residing in Pune.
Police said two other accused remained absconding and that teams were continuing efforts to trace them. The police had earlier arrested two other accused in the case.
Police said the accused entered the house in Prashasan Nagar on the night of May 7–8, restrained Tanuja Ranjan and smothered her. They allegedly escaped with 225 grams of gold jewellery and other valuables.
The police investigation revealed that Dharma came to Hyderabad in June 2025 through a relative and began working as a domestic help at the Jubilee Hills residence for a monthly salary of about Rs 20,000. During her employment, she allegedly remained in contact with Bikas, a Nepal national based in Pune, who repeatedly asked about her employer, the household’s assets and the valuables inside the house. He eventually proposed a robbery in return for a share of the proceeds. In April 2026, Dharma travelled to Pune to visit her ailing father and came into contact with other members of the alleged gang.
On May 4, when her employer left for Bengaluru, she allegedly alerted the group. The police account says Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, Shanker Chandra Lama and Sunil Pariyar met at Kalamboli in Raigad district, Maharashtra, on May 4 and travelled to Pune in a hired Maruti Ertiga. The next day, they met other alleged accomplices, including Ganesh B.K., before setting out for Hyderabad.
On the morning of May 7, Ganesh B.K. and Suresh Shahi allegedly met Dharma near her workplace, surveyed the premises and discussed how the group could enter the house. Two groups allegedly carried out the operation.
According to police, the gang assembled at Ravindra Bar near the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station area on the evening of May 7. It allegedly split into two groups under a plan devised by Sujan Shahi, also known as Suresh Shahi. One group, comprising Ganesh B.K., Suresh Shahi and Shanker Lama, was assigned to enter the house and carry out the robbery. The other, comprising Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, Sunil Pariyar and Netra Shahi, allegedly remained near Nampally railway station as a lookout team.
During the intervening night of May 7 and 8, Dharma allegedly opened the door to let the others in. Police said Tanuja woke up during the incident. The attackers allegedly gagged and restrained her, causing her death by suffocation. The group then searched the house, broke open cupboards and took gold jewellery and other valuables.
After leaving through the rear gate, the accused allegedly travelled to Nampally and joined the lookout team.
Investigation revealed that the group subsequently travelled towards Kazipet, moved into isolated hilly terrain and divided the stolen property into nine equal shares. Members then split into smaller groups, fled towards Nepal and disposed of the valuables at different locations.
On May 22, Task Force teams arrested Sunil Bahadur Aauji alias Sunil Pariyar and alleged receiver Dilip Bahadur Mijar alias Sonar. Police recovered 26 grams of the stolen property from them.
The investigation continued across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow and Uttarakhand. The SIT also carried out field inquiries near the India-Nepal border, spending more than five months gathering intelligence in remote and hilly areas.
Police said local informers helped the team track the suspects’ alleged hideouts, travel routes, employment and contacts.
Crime
ED arrests Mumbai advocate linked to Rs 2.6 crore ‘digital arrest’ case of Goa couple

The ED arrested a Mumbai-based advocate and secured his custody till October 29 from a Special Court (PMLA) in connection with the digital arrest of a Goa couple who were duped of Rs 2.6 crore and his association with a gang of cyber criminals, an official said on Monday.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, arrested advocate Rashesh Bharatkumar Upadhyay alias Rashesh Shah on October 24 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the official said in a statement.
He was intercepted at the boarding gate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, while attempting to leave Mumbai on an early-morning connecting flight to Delhi without any return booking, it said.
The interception was made possible by the active and timely support of Mumbai Customs and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Goa Police in a digital arrest fraud.
Fraudsters impersonating officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation placed the Goa couple under continuous video surveillance, showed her a forged order of the Supreme Court, and coerced her into transferring about Rs 2.6 crore into accounts falsely described as “Secret Supervision Accounts”, said the statement
The ED’s investigation traced these proceeds through more than 400 mule accounts into a network of commodity, travel and foreign-exchange companies controlled by Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed through dummy directors, the ED said.
This network undertook banking transactions of nearly Rs 28,000 crore and deposited about Rs 2,900 crore in cash. Its bank accounts have surfaced in over 300 victim complaints and more than 160 FIRs across 20 states and union territories, involving reported losses of over Rs 400 crore, the ED said.
Rashesh Upadhyay was a key node of this network. Whenever bank accounts of the network were frozen by law enforcement agencies on cyber fraud complaints, he arranged their release by paying cash bribes to certain suspected officials of the agencies concerned, routed through angadiyas.
He fixed the amounts, the collection points and the onward payments. On his own admission, he arranged the unfreezing of about 100 such accounts for various agents, including a payment of over Rs 60 lakh in a single instance, the ED said.
By restoring the network’s access to frozen fraud proceeds, he kept the money-laundering infrastructure behind digital fraud running across the country, the ED said.
He continued these dealings even after ED’s searches, including in respect of accounts frozen by the ED, deleted his chats with the co-accused, and switched off all his known mobile numbers before attempting to flee, said the probe agency.
Although enrolled as an advocate, he had never appeared or filed any vakalatnama for the co-accused or their companies. He misused his professional standing as a cover for brokering bribes and securing the release of fraud proceeds. Such conduct is not legal practice, and the protection available to communications between an advocate and a client does not extend to communications made in furtherance of an illegal purpose or showing the commission of a crime or fraud, the ED said.
This is the 7th arrest in the case. ED has earlier arrested six persons, including the two controllers of the network, Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed, and the agents who supplied banking entries to the network and arranged the release of its frozen accounts.
Further investigation is in progress to identify the officials who received the bribes, the angadiyas and other intermediaries involved, and to trace the full extent of the Proceeds of Crime.
-
Crime4 years agoClass 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Maharashtra2 years agoFalse photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
National News2 years agoMinistry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMaharashtra Elections 2024: Mumbai Metro & BEST Services Extended Till Midnight On Voting Day
-
National News2 years agoJ&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface
-
Crime2 years agoBaba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
