The Kandivali Police in Mumbai has arrested three men from Gujarat for allegedly hacking citizens’ mobile phones through fake Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) APK files and stealing more than Rs 6.25 lakh, police said.
Police said the entire defrauded amount, totalling Rs 6,24,518, was recovered from the suspects.
According to the police, the arrests followed two separate cyber fraud complaints registered at Kandivali police station involving residents who were allegedly tricked into downloading fake applications linked to gas meter services.
In the first case, Bakul Kantilal Desai reported the fraud on 9 May 2026. According to the complaint, he received calls from unknown numbers asking him to upload his gas meter reading.
The callers allegedly sent him an APK file presented as an official MGL application. After Desai downloaded the file, his mobile phone was compromised and Rs 2,07,401 was transferred illegally from his HDFC Bank account.
Second victim lost Rs 4.17 lakh
In another case, Shailesh Jaykishan Parmar was allegedly contacted on 7 May 2026 and asked to pay a nominal Rs 12 fee for submitting his gas meter reading.
He was sent an APK file for making the payment. After downloading the application, his phone was allegedly compromised and Rs 4,17,117 was withdrawn from his HDFC savings account.
The second case was registered as CR No. 1047/2026.
Both cases were registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
Stolen money used to clear gold loans
During the investigation, the Kandivali Cyber Cell conducted technical analysis of the transactions and allegedly traced the stolen funds to the suspects.
Police found that the accused had taken gold loans from Bajaj Finserv for personal purposes. Investigators allege that after gaining access to the victims’ bank accounts, the suspects transferred the stolen money towards repayment of their outstanding gold loans and used the funds to retrieve pledged gold ornaments.
Suspects traced to Surat in Gujarat
Following the technical investigation, a police team traced the suspects to Olpad village in Surat district, Gujarat.
The three men were taken into custody and Rs 6,24,518 was recovered during the operation, according to police.
The accused have been identified as Urvishkumar Rajeshbhai Patel, Janikumar Pradipbhai Patel and Ankitkumar Sanjaybhai Patel.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Commissioner of Police Dr Abhinav Deshmukh, DCP Sandeep Ghuge, ACP Santosh Dhanawate and Kandivali police station Senior Inspector Karan Sonawane.
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