Delhi: Man arrested in Rs 1.2 lakh UPI fraud case

The Delhi Police has arrested a 32-year-old man in connection with a mobile phone theft case linked to fraudulent UPI transactions worth over Rs 1.2 lakh, an official said on Tuesday.

The case pertains to an e-FIR registered at IGI Airport Metro police station after a mobile phone was stolen and subsequently used to carry out multiple unauthorised UPI transactions amounting to Rs 1,20,390, he said.

Police said the investigation relied on a multi-layered approach combining advanced cyber forensic tools with ground intelligence. An end-to-end analysis of 11 suspicious UPI transactions was carried out, along with profiling and physical verification of beneficiaries.

The probe revealed that the defrauded money was rapidly routed through multiple local merchant accounts, indicating a structured and well-planned fraud network, a senior police officer said.

During technical surveillance, one of the key beneficiaries, identified as Neetu from Haryana’s Safidon, was traced and examined. Her questioning led police to the prime accused, Kushagra Ahuja.

The accused had no fixed residence and frequently changed locations to evade arrest, making the investigation challenging. Multiple raids were conducted across Delhi and the National Capital Region based on technical inputs and surveillance.

On May 1, specific intelligence inputs indicated his presence near Kashmere Gate in north Delhi. Acting swiftly, police teams launched a focused operation and apprehended Ahuja after an intensive search near the ISBT area.