According to police, the gang was in the process of opening an office in Noida (Representational)
With the arrest of three people, including a Chinese and a Nepalese, the Noida Police on Monday claimed to have busted an international gang of cyber thugs duping Indians.
The Chinese national was allegedly staying in India without a visa and had reached Noida through Nepal, police said.
The police have recovered four passports and 531 SIM cards which were activated using forged IDs of Indian nationals, a senior officer said.
"The accused were held by officials of the Bisrakh police station. Those held include Su Youming (34), a Chinese national who was found without a visa, Anil Thapa (28) from Nepal, and Greater Noida resident Vinod Bhati (52), who was assisting Su Youming," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Suniti said.
"Some passports, driving licences, ID cards, nine mobile phones, and some credit and debit cards have been seized from them. More importantly, over 500 activated SIM cards have been seized from them which were purchased on forged Indian IDs," Suniti told reporters.
The investigation so far has revealed that they are part of a gang of cyber thugs operating from Cambodia, the police officer said.
"The arrested men here were providing support to the gang, which uses apps like Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, and some other Chinese apps there (in Cambodia) to target Indians for cyber-related frauds," the officer said.
According to police, the gang was in the process of opening an office in Noida's commercial hub of Sector 18 which would have worked as a front for their work.
The names of some local associates of the gang have also come to light and the police are investigating their roles in the case, the police said.
The police said they have also recovered 11,435 Nepalese currency, two US dollars, five Dirhams, 150 Thailand notes, five Chinese Yuan, 2100 Cambodian notes and Rs 94,710 from the accused.
An FIR has been lodged in the case under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (all related to forgery) while the Chinese national has also been booked under provisions of the Foreigners Act, the police said.
DCP Suniti said further investigation into the case is underway to trace more links to the gang and to ascertain the quantum of fraud done by them so far.
Central and State security agencies and departments concerned are being informed about the developments, she added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)