Man who withdrew cash for online fraudster held in Faridabad

A routine vehicle check helped Faridabad police nab a man involved in several cases of online frauds, and thefts of vehicles, identity, and ATM cards, among others, senior officers said on Thursday.

Police said he also acted as a conduit for an online fraud mastermind and helped him withdraw the money he scammed from gullible victims without ever being captured by CCTV cameras or intercepted by policemen.

Police identified the suspect as Insaf Khan alias Irshad, a resident of village Samsabad, in Nuh’s Punhana, and said he was stopped during a routine vehicle checking on Thursday as his motorcycle did not have a registration plate.

Police seized the motorbike and questioned the rider who could not furnish any papers for the motorbike. A further search helped police recover ₹1.15 lakh, and four ATM cards from his possession, said investigators.

Amit Yashwardhan, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said during questioning, Khan revealed that he worked for a person based in Nuh, whom he identified as Wakil Khan of Neemkhera Village in Ferozepur Jhirka.

He told police that Wakil Khan gave him the four ATM cards to withdraw money from across NCR and he has been performing this task every day since June 1.

“The man who operates from Nuh duped people across the country through online frauds and has opened over 300 bank accounts in various banks using forged documents. He used to give debit cards to his gang members and send them to withdraw money from different areas to evade the police. They never used the same ATM card twice to make it difficult for the police to trace them,” he said.

Braham Prakash, in-charge of Sector 65 crime unit, said Wakil Khan used to provide stolen motorcycles to his team members to make the rounds of ATMs. “The gang would steal motorbikes from Delhi, Noida, Palwal, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram and later used them to withdraw money. The con men, on transferring the duped money to their bank accounts , would immediately call the riders who are already deployed near the ATMs and tell them to withdraw the money immediately. This network is being operated from Nuh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan,” he said.

“We are questioning him regarding the operations of the gang. We have formed a team to conduct a raid at Wakil Khan’s house and it will be carried out on Friday,” he said.

The police have registered a case at the Kotwali police station against the mastermind and the suspect under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating), 379 (theft), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), and 120B (conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code and section 25 of Arms Act.