Mumbai: How software engineer masterminded a fraud

Arora withdrew money, also purchased gold from local jewellers. Representation Pic

The Bandra police have arrested a 34-year-old BTech professional for allegedly being involved in multiple cyber fraud cases across the city while residing in five-star hotels. The accused, Twinkle Arjun Arora, 34, resides in Faridabad in Haryana. Police said Arora was targeting youngsters who played cricket and football on turfs across the city.

Arora would frequent turf parks where young players would keep their belongings in the pavilion. After entering, he would, scan all the bags, remove mobile phones and ATM cards from victims' wallets, insert the SIM card into another mobile phone, change passwords and ATM PINs, and then insert the stolen SIM card back into the victim's mobile phone, and leave with the ATM card.

Later, Arora withdrew the money and also purchased gold from local jewellers. He successfully withdrew approximately Rs 17 lakh from various bank accounts throughout the city. He was captured on CCTV cameras at multiple turf locations. Arora is a software engineer who completed his BTech in computer science and also worked for two companies in Haryana. Arora received a good salary, but he told the cops that he lost a huge amount in IPL betting. The police also found that he stayed in a five-star hotel in Mumbai and spent Rs 1 lakh.

According to police officials, the first incident occurred on March 16 at an Andheri-based turf ground, the second on March 17 in Bandra, the third at Azad Maidan on March 30, and the fourth on March 31 in Bhayandar. A police officer said, "The accused visited a turf park in Bandra, stole a mobile phone and ATM card from a person who works in a financial company, inserted the SIM card into his phone, changed the ATM PIN, and applied for an instant loan through a mobile application. He then transferred the credited amount to his account and withdrew it. The accused kept the mobile phone and only stole the ATM card, later withdrawing money from an ATM.

He added, "When we checked, we found that the accused took multiple autorickshaws. to reach various destinations. At Azad Maidan, the accused was also captured while purchasing gold from a jewellery shop. After the four cyber fraud cases, the accused stayed in a five-star hotel where he spent almost R1 lakh. Later, he took a flight and returned to Faridabad."

A police officer said, "Accused Arora told us that he lost a huge amount of money in IPL betting and online gaming applications, and due to this reason, he committed the crime. We don't believe his story because he is a habitual offender and has been released on bail many times after committing cyber crimes. In multiple cases, the accused siphoned off lakhs of rupees, which is the hard-earned lifetime savings of the victims."

Rs 17 Lakh
The total amount from scammed