Operation CyHawk: 95 booked for involvement in organised cybercrime in central Delhi

The Delhi Police has detained 381 people, booked 95 suspects in organised cyber fraud cases and registered 24 FIRs in the Central Delhi district under ‘Operation CyHawk’ — one of its largest crackdowns on cybercrime — an official said on Monday.

During the operation, which lasted 48 hours till 9 am on November 21, police seized 1,843 mobile phones, three laptops, 84 ATM cards, fake insurance documents and forged company stamps. Cash amounting to Rs 10.28 lakh was also recovered, he said.

In one of the biggest actions under the drive, police busted an illegal mobile manufacturing and IMEI-alteration unit used for cyber fraud activities.

Five people — Ashok Kumar (45), Ramnarayan (36), Dharmender Kumar (35), Deepanshu (25) and Deepak (19) — were arrested.

Police recovered 1,826 mobile phones, a laptop with IMEI-morphing software, an IMEI scanning device, thousands of mobile parts, and printed IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) labels.

An unlicensed call centre operating from West Patel Nagar area, which allegedly duped people on the pretext of vehicle insurance policy renewal, was also busted.

One accused, Khemchand (33), was arrested and laptops, 11 mobile phones, fake policy letters, rubber stamps of insurance companies and Rs 10 lakh in cash were seized, police said.

Additionally, three men — Arif alias Sharik (27), Shahzad (35) and Mohd Zaim (29) — allegedly linked with an interstate ATM fraud syndicate were arrested from Karol Bagh, police said, adding, a total of 81 ATM cards, a motorcycle and a scooter were recovered from them.

Three others — Sumit Kumar (30), Hemraj (37) and Tanishq Bharti (20) — were arrested for allegedly scanning a victim’s ATM card and making purchases and withdrawals worth nearly Rs 1.9 lakh. One mobile phone and Rs 28,000 cash were recovered.

Four people — Rajkumar (42), Ravinder Singh (40), M Armaan Ali (34) and Dhirender Kumar (37) — were arrested in another organised fraud case. Four mobile phones were recovered from them.

Police also arrested Sahil Kamal (22) for allegedly facilitating Rs 5.76 lakh in fraudulent financial transactions through a mule account.

Among individual cases, a 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly defrauding a 73-year-old victim of Rs 22.86 lakh on the pretext of offering assistance in securing an ‘exclusive’ credit card for retired employees.

Police said several individuals involved in various cyber offences — including ATM-related frauds, mule account operations and impersonation cases — were also arrested during the drive.

“In total, 381 people were detained across the district, and large quantities of mobile devices, ATM cards, fake insurance documents and digital tools used for cyber fraud were seized,” the officer said.