Nagpur, Oct 30 (PTI) Police in Maharashtra's Nagpur have arrested three members of a Rajasthan-based gang and detained their minor accomplice allegedly involved in creating fake Facebook accounts of some senior cops in the state and duping people, an official said on Wednesday.
The police busted the gang and arrested the accused on Tuesday, he said.
The trio was identified as Rakmuddin Khan Shafi Khan, Shakir Khan Kasam Khan and Innas Khan Nijruddin Khan, all residents of Kota Khurd in Rajasthan, he said.
"It was in February that the gang members created a fake Facebook account of Nagpur Police Commissioner Dr Ravinder Singal. Using the fake profile, they sent friend requests to different users, including Mohammad Yasir Bashir, a resident of Nagpur," he said.
Yasir received a message from the account, which claimed that the Nagpur police chief's friend in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was being transferred and wanted to sell his household items urgently. Believing it, Yasir transferred Rs 85,000 to the bank accounts mentioned by the user. But after transferring the money, Yasir stopped getting any response, he said.
Yasir then approached the police and lodged a complaint, based on which a probe was initiated. Upon receiving the complaint, the Cyber Police registered a case and initiated an investigation. They found that the message from the fake Facebook account was sent from Kota Khurd, he said.
During the investigation, they found that a 17-year-old boy had created the fake profile, the official added.
"The interrogation of the accused trio brought to light that they had recruited several youths, including the minor, to assist in their operations. The minor reportedly received Rs 2,000 for each fake ID he created. The investigation also uncovered that the gang had forged the identity cards of at least five officers in the state," he said.
In order to execute the crime, the accused had obtained SIM cards from Assam and West Bengal, which were used in creating fake accounts. The police have confiscated four mobile phones and additional items linked to the fraud, he said.