13-05-2025
Uttarakhand police raid multiple locations across 17 states in cyber crime cases
Dehradun: The special task force of the Uttarakhand police on Tuesday said their 23 special teams raided multiple locations across 17 states to take action against more than 50 cyber fraudsters under 'Operation Prahar'. The police also pasted notices outside the houses of more than 30 absconders involved in cyber frauds.
Senior superintendent of police Navneet Singh said, 'Uttarakhand Police is the first police force in the country to have carried out a coordinated action on such a large scale against cyber criminals. This has sent a strong message to cyber offenders across the nation that they are no longer beyond the reach of the law. The nationwide campaign being conducted by the state police is a decisive step against cybercrime. This initiative is not only ensuring the identification and arrest of the accused but is also strengthening coordination with police agencies of other states.'
'Our teams from the cybercrime police stations in Dehradun and Rudrapur coordinated with local police, other cybercrime units, and technical agencies to gather crucial information such as the addresses, mobile numbers, bank accounts, social media profiles, and other digital evidence of the accused. The teams successfully identified and verified the details of 52 individuals who had been absconding for a long time and were involved in cybercrime. These individuals were duly served legal notices......B-warrants were obtained for 7 cyber criminals who had already been arrested by police forces from other states and were lodged in various jails, and remand was secured for further investigation. Six bailable warrants issued by the court were also executed,' he said.
'During the campaign, 225 criminals were found to have opened bank accounts and obtained mobile numbers using fake names, addresses, and forged documents. This information was shared with our counterparts for further action,' he said.
In April, the STF constituted special teams to be dispatched to 28 states and union territories to act against 337 cybercriminals identified in over 200 cases.
In the first phase of 'Operation Prahar', 272 cybercriminals will be targeted and 65 cybercriminals in the second phase.
According to officials, the action is to be taken against 40 cybercriminals identified in Delhi, 38 in Maharashtra, 28 in Uttar Pradesh, 28 in Rajasthan, 25 in Tamil Nadu, 18 in West Bengal, 17 in Karnataka, 16 in Gujarat, 15 in Nagaland, 14 in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Telangana, 10 in Kerala, 10 in Andhra Pradesh, 9 in Bihar, 8 in Haryana, 7 in Punjab, 6 in Assam, 6 in Manipur, 5 in Mizoram, 5 in Jharkhand, 5 in Goa, 4 in Odisha, 3 in Chhattisgarh, 3 in Delhi NCR, 2 in Tripura, 1 in Dadra Nagar Haveli, 1 in Meghalaya, 1 in Himachal Pradesh and 1 in Uttarakhand.
The amount lost by people of Uttarakhand in cybercrimes saw a massive 146% jump from ₹69 crore in 2023 to ₹170 crore in 2024, contributed by a sharp rise in incidents of digital arrest, and investment frauds, the data provided by the Uttarakhand police showed. To put it into perspective, cyber fraudsters swindled over ₹ 46.57 lakh per day.
