Navi Mumbai: A major cyber fraud came to light in Kamothe after a senior executive of a reputed Mumbai-based company was cheated of Rs 10.68 lakh, with the fraudster hacking his mobile phone and withdrawing money through an Insta Jumbo Loan, police said.

According to Kamothe Police, the 37-year-old discovered the fraud on November 3 when his bank transactions suddenly stopped working. On rushing to his bank, he learned that 23 unauthorised transactions had taken place between October 30 and November 2, following which his account had been blocked.

Police said the cyber accused first obtained two Insta Jumbo Loans of Rs 5.11 lakh and Rs 5.04 lakh from the complainant’s account without permission and immediately converted the total into a Fixed Deposit. The next day, the fraudster prematurely broke the FD and transferred the entire amount into 23 unknown bank accounts under the guise of ‘gifts’. The complainant’s salary amount of Rs 55,343 was also withdrawn.

“Hackers are using new techniques to breach mobiles and extract loans directly from bank accounts. Citizens must remain extremely cautious,” a police official said.

The complainant lodged a complaint on the Cyber Portal on November 4 and filed a formal complaint at Kamothe Police Station on November 11. Police have registered an FIR under cheating and relevant sections of the IT Act. A probe to trace the unknown cyber accused, is underway.

Vijayawada, Nov 18: The presence of Maoists in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and surrounding areas created a stir on Tuesday as police arrested 31 Naxals, including some top leaders belonging to Chhattisgarh.

As many as 27 Maoists were arrested from a four-storey building at New Autonagar in Kanuru neighbourhood in Vijayawada.

Most of the arrested Maoists were women, who had reportedly taken shelter in the guise of labourers.

Security personnel carried out searches following an intelligence alert that Maoists had taken shelter in the city.

Additional Director General (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha said a total of 31 Maoists were arrested from Krishna district, Vijayawada and Kakinada

As a large number of migrant workers from other states, including Chhattisgarh, are employed in various factories and timber depots in and around Vijayawada, especially Autonagar, the Maoists had taken shelter so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Large-scale search operations were carried out to arrest the Maoists. It was immediately not clear if the security personnel seized any arms and explosives.

The searches are said to be linked to Tuesday’s operation by security forces in the forests of Alluri Sitharamaraju district in the Andhra-Odisha border area, in which six Maoists, including top commander and CPI(Maoist) Central Committee member Hidma and his wife Raji, were killed.

Facing the heat due to intensified operations by the security forces in Chhattisgarh, several Maoists from that state are believed to have entered Andhra Pradesh

ADG Intelligence said they were keeping a close watch on the movements of Maoists for the last month.

Some Maoists and sympathisers were suspected of having moved to the interior parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Police were questioning the owner of the building in Autonagar and were trying to identify those who had given shelter to Maoists and their sympathisers. An investigation was also conducted on whether they were planning any attacks.

Police officers said such a large number of Maoists were not arrested from any city in Andhra Pradesh, even when Maoist activity was at its peak.

New Delhi, Nov 18: The Patiala House Court on Tuesday sent bomber Dr Umar Muhammad’s aide, Jasir Bilal Wani, alias Danish, to 10 days of NIA custody.

Earlier in the day, the NIA produced Wani before the court in connection with the Delhi blast that claimed 13 lives. On Monday, the agency arrested Wani, another key associate who had allegedly provided technical support to the terrorists involved in the explosion.

Wani, a resident of Kashmir, was arrested by the NIA from Srinagar. According to the agency, investigations revealed that he had allegedly provided technical assistance for carrying out terror attacks. He was reportedly involved in modifying drones and attempting to develop rockets ahead of the deadly car bomb blast.

The accused, a resident of Qazigund in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, was said to be an active co-conspirator in the attack. He had worked closely with the terrorist Dr Umar Muhammad Nabi to plan and execute the act of terror.

The NIA continues to probe multiple angles to uncover the full conspiracy behind the bombing. Several teams from the anti-terror agency are pursuing various leads and conducting searches across multiple states in an effort to identify every individual involved in the attack.

Earlier on Monday, a Delhi court also sent Aamir Rashid Ali, a Kashmiri resident accused of conspiring with Muhammad, to 10 days of NIA custody. Ali, in whose name the car used in the blast was registered, was arrested on November 16. He was apprehended in Delhi during a large-scale search operation launched after the NIA took over the case from the Delhi Police, an official said in a statement.

According to the NIA’s findings, Ali, a resident of Samboora in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir, had allegedly conspired with suicide attacker Umar Nabi to execute the terror strike. The agency stated that Ali had travelled to Delhi to help purchase the car later used as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) to carry out the blast.