MUMBAI, June 14 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Kalyan resident as part of its crackdown on a cybercrime syndicate specialising in perpetrating investment frauds, and conducted multi-state searches at 10 locations, including in the city. The agency's actions were part of its probe into an investment fraud case in which funds worth Rs.160 crore were allegedly defrauded from victims. A special court sent the arrested accused to judicial custody. The syndicate allegedly duped gullible victims by entrapping them with the lucrative offer of shares of reputed listed companies at discounted rates and then misappropriated their funds, CBI officials said on Friday. The accused, identified as Pratik Tanpure, a resident of Kalyan, was arrested by the CBI after his alleged role as a logistics provider to such criminal networks surfaced in its probe into an investment fraud case against the syndicate. CBI's probe revealed that the accused was allegedly actively involved in providing pre-activated SIM cards and mule bank accounts to cybercrime networks, thereby enabling and sustaining their illegal operations, agency officials said. During a search at his premises, the CBI recovered incriminating material, which are being assessed for their evidentiary value, the officials said. Apart from the premises of the arrested accused, the agency also carried out searches at nine other locations in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra, Hisar (Haryana), Delhi and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) as part of its crackdown, internally known as Operation Chakra-V. The CBI's case pertains to an organised fraud wherein unsuspecting individuals were cheated through a fraudulent mobile application and WhatsApp groups. The perpetrators lured innocent investors by promising shares of reputed listed companies at discounted rates and misappropriated their funds, causing significant financial loss to them....