Kochi, Nov 7 (PTI) Kochi City Cyber Police have arrested three persons for allegedly collecting bank account details and documents from individuals and supplying them to gangs involved in financial frauds across the country, police said on Saturday.
The arrested were identified as Vipin Vincent (32) of Thoppumpady, Ajith Varghese (27) of Kumbalangi, both in Ernakulam district, and Mohammed Roshan (26) of Alathur in Palakkad district.
The accused allegedly lured people with offers of money in exchange for their bank accounts and collected their passbooks, ATM cards and cheque books before handing them over to gangs involved in cyber fraud activities, police said.
The arrests were made by a joint team of Kochi City Cyber Police and Cyberdome following cyber patrolling initiated on the directions of City Police Commissioner R Nishanthini to strengthen action against cybercrimes.
The accused were arrested near the Ernakulam KSRTC bus stand while allegedly collecting bank account details from other persons, police said.
Police said the accused communicated with one another through fake profiles created on various social media platforms.
Police said that Vincent has two cases registered against him at Koothattukulam and Aroor police stations for similar offences, while a case is registered against Ajith Varghese at Veeyapuram police station.
Police are also examining whether cases have been registered against the accused in other states.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the alleged network and establish the extent of its operations.
Commissioner Nishanthini warned that strict legal action would be taken against those who hand over their banking credentials for easy money and those acting as intermediaries in such transactions.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)