Delhi Police bust 2 cyber syndicates, 4 in police net

New Delhi: Four people have been arrested in two separate cyber fraud cases across the city.

In the first case, police arrested a BA student and an ITI diesel mechanic for allegedly posing as female spiritual gurus on social media and duping people by offering tantra vidhya, rituals and remedies for love and family problems.

The scam came to light after a resident of central Delhi alleged that he had been duped of Rs 2.5 lakh after being emotionally manipulated on the pretext of performing spiritual rituals. A case was registered under Section 318 (cheating) of the BNS.

“The team conducted technical analysis of numbers, social media accounts, login sessions, IP details and digital footprints left by the accused,” said DCP (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh. “Financial transaction trails were also examined.”

The accused were eventually traced to a flat in Mohali, Punjab, from where two men — Ganesh, a 21-year-old BA fourth semester student, and Mandeep Singh, another 21-year-old who has completed ITI in diesel engine mechanics along with a BA degree — were nabbed.

An analysis of their data revealed that they had been interacting with over 2,000 people from across the country, police said.

In another case, police arrested two alleged cyberfraud masterminds from Madgaon, Goa, for hacking phones through software updates and accessing UPI apps to siphon off money.

According to the cops, a complaint had been received about the alleged cheating of Rs 1.5 lakh during an automatic software update.

“Through the digital and financial trails, it was discovered that Rs 98,000 of the stolen money had been settled at the laptop service station in Vasco, south Goa,” said DCP (outer north) Hareshwar Swami.

Police found that the accused were operating a structured cash-conversion racket wherein they received fraudulent online payment entries. Upon confirmation of the digital transfer, they would hand over an equivalent amount in physical cash after deducting a commission.

The accused, identified as Arjun Lal Yadav (29) and Deependra Mahala (25), were arrested in Madgaon. They revealed that after converting the digital fraud money into cash via Goa’s commercial establishments, the currency was routed backward to senior syndicate handlers pulling the strings from Rajasthan.