Delhi Police bust pan-India cybercrime syndicate

Indian Express

3 days ago

The Delhi Police Crime Branch has dismantled a sprawling, pan-India cybercrime syndicate allegedly involved in a range of illegal activities, including sextortion, banking fraud, and cyber scams, officials said on Tuesday. The criminal network operated across Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, according to the police.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 28 mobile phones, 30 SIM cards, two laptops, eight cheque books, 15 debit cards, and several bank account credentials used for illegal financial transactions, the police stated. Videos and photographs used to blackmail victims were also recovered, and a money trail amounting to over Rs 5 crore has been identified, officials added.
The operation was initiated on May 24 following a tip-off regarding the movement of a suspicious consignment containing synthetic bank account kits in the New Ashok Nagar area, the police said.
'These kits were reportedly being used in various high-tech crimes such as sextortion, cyber fraud, banking scams, debit or credit card cloning — crimes that have seen a recent surge both in frequency and sophistication,' Aditya Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime Branch, said.
The intelligence indicated that the kits were to be delivered and distributed near the vicinity of Mayur Vihar Phase-1 Extension, DCP Gautam said, adding that 'an immediate and decisive operational response was formulated'.
The operation resulted in the arrests of three men, identified as Ujjawal Pandey, 30, Gaurav Barua, 24, and Yug Sharma, 19. The accused were allegedly arrested with the synthetic kits and associated paraphernalia, including pre-activated SIM cards, forged bank documents, and digital devices used to carry out fraudulent transactions, the police said. These kits enabled fraudsters to bypass KYC norms and execute untraceable financial operations, the police added.
Further investigation based on inputs from those arrested led to a raid in the Mundka area where a fake call centre was masquerading as a bank loan provider, according to the police. Here, seven more people were caught.
According to the police, the operation was led by Dilshad Ali, who ran the centre along with his associate, Amit, who is currently absconding. The call centre's modus operandi involved luring victims with attractive loan offers, collecting their identification details, and then extorting money under the guise of processing fees before cutting all contact, the police said.
Ali, who was previously involved in a 2019 case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act in Maharashtra, acted as the team leader, the police said. Six call centre employees were also arrested. The police said they were mostly young telemarketers who were computer literate and earning between Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,000 per month.
Building on leads from the arrested individuals, another raid was conducted in New Ashok Nagar, resulting in the arrest of four more accused and the exposure of a well-organised sextortion racket, the police said.
'These individuals employed a deceitful method to lure and exploit victims. Initially, they would send friend requests on Facebook and obtain the victim's mobile number through Facebook Messenger. Subsequently, they would initiate a video call on WhatsApp, during which they would stream pornographic clips, secretly recording the victim's screen and reactions using screen recording tools. The recorded content was then used to blackmail the victim under threats of publicly circulating the video on social media platforms, thereby coercing them into transferring money,' said DCP Gautam.
The accused in the case come from diverse backgrounds and regions, the police said. Pandey, originally from Krishna Nagar, Delhi, came into the cyber fraud world through his cybercafe venture, according to the police. Barua, a graduate from IGNOU, allegedly transitioned from a legitimate job in an insurance company to fraudulent financial operations. Sharma, the youngest among the arrested, assisted in supplying fake SIM cards and account kits, and Ali, who had a corporate background, played a central role in managing the fraudulent call centre, as per the police.
The accused in the sextortion gang were identified as Jahid, 20, Raheesh, 21, and Sohil, 18, all from Deeg in Rajasthan. Jahid, a third-year student, was identified as the alleged ringleader of the sextortion racket, while Raheesh and Sohil allegedly assisted in blackmail operations. Jayshree, a 24-year-old graduate from Alwar University and a former SBI BPO employee, also played a vital role in making calls and luring victims, the police said.