Gang of online swindlers busted with arrest of five in Panchkula
The police busted a gang allegedly duping people in online frauds, following the complaint of a woman who had lost Rs 95,000 in fraudulent withdrawals.
Inspector Munish Kumar, Cyber Police station house officer (SHO), and his team arrested five members of the gang. The operation followed recent crime review meetings, during which special instructions were issued to intensify efforts against cybercrime.
In a complaint to the cyber police station, Shashi Bala, a resident of Sector 5, Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula, told the police that she was a retired employee from the Municipal Committee, Sangrur, and lived in the city alone as her children reside abroad.
On November 11, 2024, while checking her bank statement using an e-passbook app, the complainant discovered that her mobile phone had been hacked and Rs 95,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from her bank account. Based on her complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections and an investigation was launched.
The police arrested Mukul Sharma, a resident of Lakhimpur district in Uttar Pradesh, from Panchkula, on May 23. Based on his disclosure, Vishal Shah, son of Jeetu Ram, was also arrested the same day from Hallomajra. Both the accused were presented in court on May 24 and remanded to two days of police custody. During interrogation, it was revealed that they were involved in selling bank accounts.
Further leads from the duo led to the arrest of Kamaluddin Ansari and Dilkash, both residents of Jamtara district in Jharkhand, from Zirakpur bus stand. These two were identified as the main accused behind the online fraud. They were produced in court on May 25 and remanded to 10 days of police custody.
Additionally, the police arrested Dharmveer, son of Kalicharan, from South West Delhi on Sunday. He was allegedly responsible for providing forged documents to the gang. While Mukul, Vishal and Dharmveer have now been sent to judicial custody, interrogation of Kamaluddin and Dilkash is ongoing.
From the possession of the accused, police have recovered passbooks, ATM cards, Aadhaar cards, mobile SIM cards, and other documents. Intensive questioning is underway during the remand period, and police are hopeful of arresting other members linked to this organised cybercrime network.
“Cyber fraudsters are now operating as professional syndicates, but our team is fully committed to dismantling such networks. Through technical expertise and strategic investigation, we are consistently exposing these crimes and will continue this mission,” the SHO said.
