COIMBATORE: A 10-member gang from Gujarat involved in a fake traffic challan scam was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the Coimbatore district fourth judicial magistrate on Thursday. Also, judicial magistrate S Arunkumar imposed a total fine Rs 3 lakh on D Bhathliya Rajnibai, 37, H Vishwabai, 36, Radadiya Chavan, 34, D Kohil Vijay, 37, S Rathore Jithendrasingh, 36, T Mahendrasingh, 35, M Sovadiya Mirel, 32, R Kapil Rajubai, 36, M Sovadiya Meet, 25, and J Pal Chandan, 34.All these men were arrested by the Coimbatore city cybercrime police in January this year.According to the cybercrime police, C Samuel, 71, of Kavundampalayam in the city received a WhatsApp message on Sept 8, 2025, containing an APK file and a note about a pending traffic violation. As the message resembled those sent by the traffic police, he downloaded it. Soon, he received a message stating that Rs 16.47 lakh had been withdrawn from his fixed deposit account.Samuel lodged a complaint with the city cybercrime police on Sept 12, 2025. Police registered a case and began investigations. They found that the money in Samuel’s bank account had been transferred to several accounts in Surat, Gujarat. Further inquiries revealed that the gang behind the scam was in Surat.A police team led by cybercrime inspector Alaguraj went to Surat and arrested the 10 men. Police seized Rs 3.5 lakh in cash, 311 debit and credit cards, 10 mobile phones, a swiping machine and a chequebook from them.
