Cyber fraud accused nabbed by Hyderabad police at Mumbai airport

A 43-year-old man wanted in a high-profile digital arrest fraud case was arrested by Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police after immigration officials detained him at Mumbai International Airport.

The accused, Aludasu Sudhaker, was nabbed based on a Look Out Circular earlier issued by Hyderabad police.

An officer from the cyber crime wing said that Sudhaker, a resident of Saroornagar here, is allegedly part of a racket that orchestrated a sophisticated scam targeting a 48-year-old woman under the pretext of a legal investigation. “Several others linked to the same racket had already been arrested in December last year. They include Dharavath Rajkumar, a dancer, Kaluvala Abhilash Reddy and Alladi Tharun, both private sector employees, and Gattu Pavan, also working in Hyderabad. All were identified as account suppliers or holders,” said the officer.

The case came to light when the victim, a woman, received an automated call on November 12 last year, claiming that her Airtel services would be suspended. She was then transferred through a chain of fraudsters posing as various officials, a woman operator, a DCP and a CBI officer named Rajesh Mishra. They accused her of involvement in a money laundering case linked to Naresh Goyal and claimed that she held illicit bank accounts in Mumbai.

The victim, after realising she had been duped, approached the Cyber Crime Police in Hyderabad, prompting the registration of the case under serious sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The group’s modus operandi was to impersonate enforcement agencies like the CBI, ED or Customs, allege fictitious criminal cases such as terrorism or narcotics trafficking, and then psychologically corner the victims into draining their financial reserves. Victims were told the money was to be ‘deposited with the Supreme Court’ to prove their innocence.

Police seized a smartphone used in the crime and a Visa Platinum debit card belonging to an absconding Dubai-based accused, Ashok Kumar Javvaji, reportedly running a digital marketing outfit.