The Cyber Cell of Pimpri Chinchwad Police, Pune, busted a major share market fraud through which unsuspecting individuals were duped of several lakhs. The operation led to the apprehension of five individuals involved in the operation, an officer said, reported news agency ANI.

The arrested individuals were identified as Juned Mukhtar Qureshi, Salman Mansur Shaikh, Abdul Aziz Ansari, Arif Anwar Khan, and Taufik Gaffar Shaikh, reported ANI.

According to DCP Sandeep Doiphode from the Crime Branch, following complaints from residents of Pimpri Chinchwad city in Pune district, who collectively lost Rs 31 lakh to the fraudsters, the law enforcement authorities initiated a thorough investigation. Using advanced technical analysis, the Pune Police successfully identified and apprehended five suspects linked to the fake share trading application, reported ANI.

During the operation, the Pune Police also recovered a sum of Rs 7 lakh, 7 mobile phones, a cash counting machine, 8 debit cards from various banks, and 12 chequebooks from different banks, Doiphode informed.

“It was found during the investigation that all five accused defrauded several people of crores of rupees through approximately 120 bank accounts. They had an overseas link as well, as they also received money from people off-shore which they converted into cryptocurrencies and diverted to their handlers in Hong Kong,” Doiphode said on Wednesday, reported ANI.

The senior officer informed further that the “accused were unemployed and used to target people, who took an interest in share trading. Later, they used to add these people to a WhatsApp group and ask them to invest for better returns. However, after some days, the accused went cold and didn`t respond to messages from depositors.”

Doifide also urged citizens to make investments only through independent and authentic share trading investment companies and avoid falling for fake promises from unauthentic traders.

In another case, The Pune police have formed special teams to nab the persons, who allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old male Muslim student at the university here, accusing him of engaging in `love jihad`, an top official said, reported PTI.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when the victim was accompanying two female students on the campus of the state-run Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), he said.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)

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