Mumbai Woman Duped Of ₹67 Lakh In Share Market Scam; One Held, Hunt On For Key Accused

Mumbai: A cyber fraud case involving the share market has led to the arrest of one accused by the Mumbai Police. The complainant, Pratibha Pradeep Desai (67), a resident of Girgaum, was allegedly cheated of ₹67,15,174 between January 16, 2025, and February 28, 2025, after being lured into a fake share trading scheme.

According to the complaint filed at the South Region Cyber Police Station, a woman identifying herself as Shruti Baheti contacted Desai through WhatsApp and offered her high returns from trading in the stock market. The victim was persuaded to transfer money across multiple bank accounts via fake links.

An FIR has been registered, and during the investigation, it was found that ₹16 lakh of the defrauded amount was deposited into a private bank account registered in the name of Kalyani Enterprises, owned by Hemant Mali. Mali, who is engaged in agriculture and vegetable trading, had reportedly handed over his account to one Mohit Akash Bhojraj (24), a resident of Bhimanagar, Dahisar West. Bhojraj has since been arrested.

Further mobile phone data analysis revealed that Bhojraj had provided access to 19 bank accounts to the wanted accused Salid Mohammad Sheikh, whose contact numbers include +971528862755 and +966534503714. Sheikh is originally from Mangalore, Karnataka. Police are currently tracking his present whereabouts for further action.