17 booked for Rs110 cr bank fraud in Azamgarh

Varanasi: Arrested in Nov and Dec last year, 17 cyber fraudsters, were booked under Gangster Act by Azamgarh police. They were held under charges of siphoning about Rs 110 crore from bank accounts of people by sending them link to download a fake APK ‘PM Kisan Yojana' app. Those arrested had links with cyber fraud gangs operating from China, Dubai and other countries.Azamgarh SSP Anil Kumar said on Tuesday that in Nov and Dec last year, 17 members of the cyber fraud gang were arrested, including Sultan Ansari of Giridih, Jharkhand, Parvez Ansari of Deoria, Mohd Kaleem of Lucknow, Imran Ali alias Samad of Rampur, Ankit Kumar of Delhi, Sarfraz of Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Adesh Singh of Kanpur, Aman Pratap Nishad, Vinayak Malviya, Arjun Singh of Sonbhadra, Amit Singh and Chandrabhushan Singh of Ghazipur, Atul Singh Chauhan of Shahjahanpur, Atul Anand and Pankaj Pandey of Chandauli, Abhinav alias Monu Chaurasiya of Gorakhpur and Brajesh Kumar of Kaimur Bhabhua in Bihar. After recommendation of SSP on Mar 16, followed by approval of the gang chart by Azamgarh district magistrate, a case under Section 3(1) of the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act was registered against them at Cyber Crime Police Station, and further legal proceedings are underway.This gang came on the radar of Azamgarh police after they sent an APK link to the WhatsApp number of Karan Gupta on Nov 18, 2025. As soon as Gupta installed the app on his phone, Rs 7.77 lakh was withdrawn from his account and he lodged a case with Cyber Crime Police Station. Initially, two accused were arrested on Nov 30, 2025, and 15 accused were arrested on Dec 8, 2025. At the time of arrest, police had recovered 26 mobile phones, 15 SIMs, 14 ATM cards, cash of Rs 26,500, two cars used in the crime and a large quantity of electronic equipment, while Rs 17.5 lakh in the bank accounts of the accused was frozen. The gang used to hack people's mobile phones by sending a fake "PM KISAN YOJANA (.APK)" app and money was from withdrawn illegally their bank accounts.With progress in investigation, it came to light that this interstate gang was involved in an international cyber fraud worth Rs 110 crore. Investigation also exposed their links with handlers in China, Dubai and other countries.