Mumbai Police Crime Branch Unit-8 Bust Interstate E-Commerce Barcode Fraud Racket, Seize ₹45 Lakh Goods; 3 Accused Arrested

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch Unit-8 has busted an interstate fraud racket that was duping e-commerce companies by cleverly swapping barcodes on delivery boxes.

The accused identified as Pankajkumar Hariram Jindal (32), occupation: farming, resident of Kasba Survachain, Sirsa, Haryana, Vijaykumar Mahendrasing Saharan (32), occupation: driver, resident of Rampura, Post Thana, Taluka Hansi, District Hisar, Haryana, Shamsher Singh Raghuveer Alan (32), occupationfarming, resident of Rampura, Post Thana, Taluka Hansi, Hisar, Haryana and Sumantkumar Dauram Sahu (29) occupation: driver and delivery worker, resident of Ranbod, Ward No. 8, Taluka Nawagarh, Bemetara, Chhattisgarh.

Modus Operandi of the Gang

According to police, the gang worked in collusion with delivery personnel to manipulate the delivery process. They would place multiple online orders for both expensive and inexpensive items. The barcode sticker from the costly product would be removed and pasted onto the cheaper one.

Later, they would refuse to accept the delivery of the expensive item, citing an “incorrect order,” prompting the e-commerce platform to issue a refund. In this way, the fraudsters pocketed the refund amount while retaining the expensive item, causing huge financial losses to the companies.

Trap and Arrests

Acting on a tip-off, the Crime Branch team laid a trap in Borivali on October 6 and caught three accused red-handed while swapping barcodes inside a delivery tempo. The investigation revealed that two of the accused are residents of Haryana, while the third hails from Chhattisgarh.

Seizure and Custody

Police have seized goods worth ₹45 lakh from their possession, including electronic items valued at ₹34 lakh, a Tata tempo worth ₹7 lakh, and a Hyundai car valued at ₹4 lakh.

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All three accused were produced in court and remanded to police custody till October 13. The police are now investigating the network further to identify other gang members and delivery chain insiders involved in the scam.

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