Mangaluru: In connection with the murder of Mulki-based auto rickshaw driver Muhammad Sharif (52), two individuals have been taken into custody by Manjeshwar police. Sharif, a resident of Kolnadu in Mulki, had gone missing on the night of April 9. His body was discovered the following night in an abandoned well in Kunjathur Padu, within the Manjeshwar police station limits.

According to police sources, preliminary postmortem findings confirmed that Sharif had been murdered before his body was dumped in the well. Investigation revealed that three individuals from Mangaluru had hired Sharif’s auto rickshaw on the night of his disappearance. CCTV footage from the Talapady toll gate captured the rickshaw heading towards Manjeshwar around midnight.

Based on this and other leads, Manjeshwar police intensified their probe and have now detained two suspects, both reportedly from Mangaluru, for questioning in connection with the case.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Hyderabad (PTI): The DGGI, Hyderabad zonal unit, on Thursday said it has identified an alleged organised syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating "illegal" online gaming websites in the country with the assistance of associated fintech companies and arrested one of the masterminds.

It further said it has launched a massive crackdown on online gaming syndicates, including action against associated fintech companies, freezing bank accounts to the tune of Rs 100 crore and has begun arresting the masterminds.

As part of the online gaming investigation, GST Intelligence, Hyderabad arrested Pankaj Kumar, founder and director of Adsum Advisory Service Pvt Ltd, the city-based firm, which provides services for fraud detection and customer verification/digital KYC verification, a release from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad zonal unit said.

"Evidence gathered during the investigation pointed to the identification of an organised syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating illegal online gaming websites with assistance of associated fintech companies, including payment aggregator, payment gateway and third-party technology service providers, wherein Pankaj Kumar is one of the masterminds responsible for fraudulent KYC verification of merchants and shell entities on behalf of RBI regulated entities like Payment Gateways and Banking as Payment Aggregator (BAPA)," it said.

Being director of a company responsible for KYC verification process, Kumar "failed" to develop risk profiling of customers based on ownership and control structure and helped in onboarding of shell entities for UPI integration required for flow of money from online gaming, it alleged.

The DGGI, Hyderabad unit, further alleged Kumar, is one of the beneficiaries who received "illegitimate" proceeds of crime generated by the online gaming syndicate.

Further investigation is under progress, the release added.