Rangers arrest 10 ‘involved in cybercrime’

The Sindh Rangers on Wednesday claimed to have arrested 10 suspected members of a cybercrime gang during three separate raids in the city. The arrested men have allegedly defrauded around 150 citizens.

A spokesperson for the Rangers said the paramilitary force had received a complaint from a resident of Karachi, Mustafa Kamal, who narrated that a few days ago he saw an advertisement on a social media app for a car that was being offered at a cheap price.

He called on the phone number mentioned in the advertisement and made a deal to pay a total of Rs1.1 million for two cars auctioned by a private bank. Kamal maintained that he transferred the amount via online service to a man, Nazeer Qadir. However, Qadir stopped receiving his calls after the transfer as his mobile phone was continuously switched off.

The spokesperson said after the complaint was registered, the Rangers took up the case and transferred it to their technical department, which carried out investigations and gathered intelligence, leading to the arrests of 10 suspects during raids in the Korangi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Surjani Town areas.

The arrested men were identified as Mohammad Ibrahim, Syed Ali Atif Jaffery, Irfan Basheer, Syed Shah Mir Furqan, Mohammad Naveed Mirza, Kamran, Azam Rehman Butt, Nazarul Qadir, Munir Khan and Faizan Rafi. According to the paramilitary force, they were members of a cybercrime gang and were operating from their respective areas.

It was revealed during the investigations that the accused persons used to defraud people by making fake offers of selling vehicles, which were auctioned by non-governmental departments, private banks or companies, at cheap prices.

After collecting millions of rupees via online transfer, the suspects switched off their mobile phones and changed their numbers, the spokesperson said. According to the Rangers, the arrested suspects disclosed that they were active in crime since 2008. Between 2008 and 2011, they made fake offers to people through classified sections of newspapers and since 2012 they had been using internet to cheat people. More than 150 people have so far been defrauded by the gang, the Rangers claimed. The suspects have been handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for the initiation of legal proceedings. Further investigations are under way.