PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) arrested a man from Gurugram, Haryana for duping a Tehri resident of Rs 3.2 crore. The accused was apprehended with multiple electronic devices and forged documents used in the execution of the fraud, the deputy superintendent of police of STF’s cyber crime unit Ankush Mishra said. He informed that the investigation began after a complaint was lodged in May 2025 by a resident of Tehri district. The complainant reported receiving a message on WhatsApp, in which the sender posed as a company’s managing director and requested the recipient to transfer Rs 1.95 crore to a bank account under the pretext of a new project. The victim was later convinced to deposit a total of Rs 3.2 crore into multiple accounts and later realised that he was duped. Mishra said that during the investigation, the STF team used technical surveillance, digital evidence collection and official correspondence with banks, service providers and Meta (Parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) to trace the accused. The team found that the suspect used forged identities and banking credentials to impersonate senior company officials and trick victims into making high-value payments. The team finally tracked the main accused to Nathupur in Gurugram and arrested him on Monday. During search operations, STF recovered several items allegedly used in the crime, including nine cheque books, five passbooks, two PAN cards, two ATM cards, three swipe machines, one QR code machine, one fingerprint scanner, one Dell laptop, two routers, one mobile phone and copies of Aadhaar and PAN cards, bank account forms, a partnership deed and a Udyam registration certificate. The police identified heavy financial transactions in the accused’s bank accounts over the past few months. The investigation is ongoing, Mishra said. He also urged the public to remain cautious of unsolicited job offers, fraudulent investment schemes and fake customer care numbers. He advised citizens not to share personal information or documents with unknown individuals on social media or messaging platforms. In case of cyber fraud, the victim should contact the cybercrime helpline 1930 or visit the nearest police station, he added.
