Delhi Police busts interstate cybercrime syndicate; computer science graduate among 3 held

The Delhi Police has busted a cybercrime syndicate allegedly supplying stolen data of citizens to criminals in several states via a messaging application and apprehended its kingpin along with two others, an official said on Thursday.

The prime accused, identified as Niwash Kumar Mandal (28), was arrested from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, while his associate Pradhumn Kumar Mandal (24) was nabbed from Jamtara, Jharkhand, police said. A minor was also apprehended for making calls to victims, they said.

''Niwash Mandal, a computer science graduate, ran a Telegram channel 'Baba Kismatwale', which he created in 2024 to sell stolen banking and personal data of citizens to cybercriminals across India,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said. The data was allegedly used by scammers based in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to dupe victims.

''The racket came to light after a Delhi resident was cheated of Rs 2 lakh through a fraudulent message claiming to be from the Delhi Jal Board. The victim was asked to install an APK file, which granted fraudsters access to his banking details,'' the DCP said in an official statement. The siphoned money was later traced to loyalty programme cards of a petroleum agency used at petrol pumps in Haryana's Nuh, he said.

A case was registered and police launched an investigation into the money trail.

During the probe, technical analysis pointed to Jamtara as the source of the operations. Following multiple raids in Jharkhand and West Bengal, Niwash was arrested and he confessed to operating the data-selling syndicate, the police said.

His associate Pradhumn, who was earlier involved in cybercrime cases in Kolkata, Lucknow and Delhi, was arrested from Jamtara.

The minor, who used to impersonate officials of banks, BSES and the Jal Board to trick victims into downloading malicious applications, was also apprehended, the DCP said.

According to the police, the accused were part of an organised cybercrime network supplying critical data and tools to frauds. ''Further investigation is underway to trace other members of the syndicate and uncover the wider network,'' the officer said.

Police recovered nine mobile phones, five ATM and credit cards, three cheque books, two electronic devices and Rs 47,800 in cash from the accused, the DCP said.