Delhi Police’s month-long drive unearths cyber fraud networks, transactions worth Rs 40 cr; 89 arrested

The Delhi Police has busted multiple interstate cyber fraud syndicates and brought 89 offenders to justice during a month-long crackdown in April in west Delhi, officials said on Wednesday.

According to police, 35 accused were arrested, 54 persons were brought in to issue warnings and investigation in 34 major cyber fraud cases was completed during the operations conducted across several states, including Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi.

The syndicates were involved in digital arrest scams, investment frauds, APK file scams, fake dating membership frauds and mule account operations, they said.

Officials said the operations exposed cyber fraud networks involving transactions worth nearly Rs 40 crore.

During the drive, police recovered Rs 14.18 lakh in cash, 359 SIM cards, 218 ATM cards, 88 mobile phones, 78 cheque books, five passbooks, three credit cards, two laptops, a pen drive and a car allegedly used in cyber fraud activities.

Police said against a total cheated amount of Rs 3.36 crore reported during the month, teams managed to secure Rs 1.11 crore through immediate lien marking and coordination with banks. Additionally, Rs 51.95 lakh was reverted to victims through court orders.

In one of the major operations, police busted a highly organised mule account and OTP-sharing syndicate allegedly operating from Karampura in west Delhi.

Police said the accused used a social media group titled “DL Office” to share OTPs and illegally operate mule bank accounts used in cyber frauds across India.

The accused — identified as Bittoo Chaudhary, Lavish Chugh, Rishi, Arun Singh, Ashish and Deepak Bhatt — allegedly tried to escape by jumping from the fourth floor of a building during the raid but were apprehended after a chase.

Technical analysis through the Samanvaya portal revealed that the syndicate was linked to 35 NCRP complaints involving cheated amounts of around Rs 40 crore, police said.

In another case, police busted a fake dating club and cryptocurrency fraud syndicate that allegedly trapped victims through online messaging application bots and fake VIP membership schemes.

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The accused — Sachin Rawat, Akshay Kumar Baliyan and Kartikey Choudhary — allegedly manipulated victims through fake friendship offers and routed the cheated money through mule accounts before converting it into USDT cryptocurrency, officials said.

Police said digital trails in the case extended to Africa-based IP addresses, indicating possible international links.

In a separate operation, police cracked a “digital arrest” fraud case in which a senior citizen was allegedly threatened and psychologically manipulated by fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials in a fake money laundering case.

Police arrested four accused — Ashok Kumar, Suraj Kumar, Deepu Kumar and Vivek Kumar — from Punjab and Jharkhand for allegedly operating mule bank accounts and converting cheated money into cryptocurrency.