*Uttarakhand STF’s Cyber Crime Dehradun team took major action – arrested the accused of cyber fraud by digitally arresting a senior citizen.*
Cyber criminals had defrauded the plaintiff of Rs. 69 lakhs by digitally arresting him through WhatsApp call in the name of saving him from money laundering case.*
Under the mission of Chief Minister, Uttarakhand to keep Devbhoomi Uttarakhand crime free, under the guidance of Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, Deepam Seth, Ajay Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, STF Uttarakhand has issued instructions to provide speedy justice to the victims of cyber crime and to take effective action against the cyber criminals involved in the criminal incident. Senior Superintendent of Police, STF Ajay Singh informed that in this case, cyber criminals made a Whatsapp call to the plaintiff resident of Rishikesh, Dehradun district, posing as a Police Inspector of Daryaganj Police Station, Delhi and a Judge of an Honourable Court. They misused the plaintiff’s Aadhar card and obtained an illegal SIM card, claiming to be used in a case of illegal financial transactions. By digitally arresting the plaintiff, they made him deposit money in different bank accounts in the name of property verification, NOC and bail, thereby committing a cyber fraud of Rs 69 lakh. In this regard, FIR No. 05/2026 under sections 318(4), 61(2), 336(3), 340(2) BNS and 66D IT has been registered at Cyber Police Station Dehradun.
In view of the seriousness of the case, under the guidance of Senior Superintendent of Police, STF Ajay Singh, the investigating officer of the case was given necessary instructions for the speedy disclosure of the case. While conducting investigation in the case, it was found that accused Bhagwat Saran along with his associates had opened a bank account in the name of his Rudra Telecom shop in Axis Bank in Lalkuan district Nainital Uttarakhand by forging bail letter and fee deposit receipt of the honourable court, after which the accused shared the details of his bank account with his associates and other cyber criminals. On which transactions of lakhs of rupees were found to have taken place in the above account of the accused, against which 30 complaints were also found to have been registered on the NCRP portal. Rs 06 lakhs of fraud committed with the complainant have been credited in the above account. In this regard, accused Bhagwat Saran was arrested by the Cyber Crime Police team from Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, and sent to judicial custody after legal proceedings.
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*Name and address of accused:*
Bhagwat Saran, son of late Shantipal, resident of village Sindhaura, Police Station Devarniya, District Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Present address: Rajiv Nagar, Ward No. 2, Police Station Lalkuan, District Nainital, Uttarakhand. Age 33 years.
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*Recovered items:*
1. Bank account SMS alert mobile number
2. 02 debit cards
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Police team:
1. Inspector Anil Kumar
2. Additional Sub-Inspector Gopal Bisht
3. Additional Sub-Inspector Pawan Kumar
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The search for other accused in the case is ongoing, and a thorough investigation of bank accounts and digital evidence is being conducted.
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Senior Superintendent of Police, STF, Uttarakhand, Ajay Singh’s appeal to the public
Senior Superintendent of Police, STF, Ajay Singh has appealed to the public:
• Do not engage in video calls from unknown numbers and do not share any personal information/documents.
• No agency conducts “digital arrests” online.
• Do not invest in fake investment offers, money-doubling schemes, or YouTube/Telegram-based schemes.
• Avoid searching for customer care numbers on Google and calling directly.
In case of financial cybercrime, immediately report a complaint to the 1930 helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.