Man held for running fake website of Punjab Mining Dept

The Punjab Police’s State Cyber Crime Division on Monday arrested a man for running a fake website of the state Mining Department to generate counterfeit receipts and forms. He had been operating that website for three months.

Initial investigation revealed that the suspect, in connivance with a person from Ferozepur, had generated over 2,000 fake mining receipts, causing Rs 40-50 lakh loss to the exchequer, said DGP Gaurav Yadav.

The illegal activity facilitated the movement of vehicles involved in illegal mining. The suspect, identified as Gaurav Kumar of Kharar, had created an exact replica of the original website of the department. The fake website, created in November, 2024, remained operational till January, 2025.

The DGP said the fake receipts also carried Bar/QR codes on the lines of official website. The website backup, along with data containing details of fake receipts, images of vehicles, mining material sources and destination, besides the computers used in the offence, had been seized, he added.

Additional Director General of Police (Cybercrime Division) V Neeraja said the investigation began after a complaint was filed by the Chief Engineer of the Mining Department, alleging that the official website had been compromised and a fake website was being used to facilitate illegal mining activities. The fake website was hosted on GoDaddy, a US-based domain provider, she said.

She said the police obtained IP addresses and mobile phone numbers of the accused and conducted raids leading to the arrest of Gaurav Kumar. The other suspects involved in the scam had also been identified and raids were being conducted to arrest him, she added. The ADGP said that most of the fake mining forms related to Ludhiana-based firm Navyug.

An FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4), 336(3) and 61(2) of the BNS and Sections 66C, 66D and 66 of the IT Act.