The Panki police, in collaboration with the cyber cell of West Zone Police, successfully dismantled a cyber fraud gang that lured victims with false investment promises. The operation led to the arrest of five individuals from Delhi and Ghaziabad. Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal confirmed the arrests, identifying the accused as Rishi Sharma, Utsav Tyagi, and Durgesh Kumar from Ghaziabad, Ajay Mittal from New Delhi, and Sachin from Gurugram.
Recovered Items and Operations
During the raid, law enforcement officials seized a substantial haul of evidence, including 42 keypad mobile phones, six landline phones, six seals, 40 ATM cards, 12,383 SIM cards, two driving licenses, a biometric machine, a WhatsApp bot, and a WiFi router. The gang operated a call center in Delhi, from which they orchestrated their fraudulent activities. Further searches revealed an additional 12,000 SIM cards, 15 laptops, a scanner, stamps, over 20 mobile phones, and various documents. Authorities also identified multiple bank accounts linked to the accused, with suspected transactions amounting to crores of rupees.
The Complaint and Modus Operandi
The investigation was triggered by a complaint from Keshav Agnihotri, a resident of Panki Gangaganj who works at an engineering solutions company in Hyderabad. On April 8, he received a promotional call offering rewards for reviewing the page of a well-known online company. Subsequently, a WhatsApp call from a person named Riya Sharma instructed him to join a Telegram group and review Telegram itself, asking him to send money through the platform. Keshav made his first transaction on April 8, followed by several more. During this period, another woman named Jiya Sharma added him to additional Telegram groups.
Through 15 transactions conducted between April 8 and 10, the fraudsters convinced Keshav to invest a total of Rs 3.50 lakh. They displayed a fake profit of Rs 5 lakh on his account. However, when he attempted to withdraw the amount, they demanded an additional deposit of Rs 5 lakh. Realizing the scam, Keshav filed a complaint with the 1930 helpline and at Panki police station, prompting the Cyber Cell of West Zone and Panki Police to launch an investigation.
Legal Proceedings and Advisory
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. Police urge citizens to remain vigilant against such fraudulent calls and avoid sharing personal or financial information with unknown individuals. The investigation is ongoing to trace other possible victims and recover further proceeds of crime.
