Monday, 17 JULY 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a mastermind of a cybercrime gang from Bihar who allegedly dupes people in the name of Booking Helicopter Services for Char Dham shrines. The STF has already blocked 41 fake websites since April which were reportedly created under the supervision of this accused identified as Neeraj Kumar, said the senior superintendent of police of STF, Ayush Agrawal. He said that the accused is the mastermind behind creating fake websites that look quite similar to authentic websites and can deceive those searching for booking helicopter services online for Char Dham shrines. He said that the Cyber Crime Police Station received several complaints regarding fraud in the name of booking helicopter services for Char Dham shrines in their email ccps [email protected] from various states of the country. The STF started the investigation after registering charges at Cyber Crime Police Station in Dehradun. He said that the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (14 C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs helped the cyber crime police of Dehradun in data analysis to nab the accused. The accused was arrested after a thorough investigation by STF on Saturday from the Nawada district of Bihar. A point of sale (POS) machine and several ATM cards, bank passbooks, cheque books, IDs, SIM cards, and mobile phones were also recovered from the accused, said Agrawal. He said that the STF has found in the preliminary investigation that 21 complaints are registered against the accused in the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) from several states including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Telangana among others. Four FIRs are also registered against him in different cyber fraud cases too. He added that the STF has already arrested two members of the gang a few weeks ago. The deputy superintendent of police of the cyber crime police station, STF, Ankush Mishra said  that STF is monitoring online platforms to keep an eye on potential fake websites that can dupe pilgrims and is taking action against them accordingly. However, he added, people also need to be more cautious and appealed to them to refrain from transferring money or providing bank details to any unknown person. He also urged the public to provide information about such fake service providers including websites, web links, and mobile numbers to STF. Such details can also be sent on mobile numbers- 9456591505 and 9412080875. He also appealed to people to use only the official website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the booking of helicopter service for the Char Dham Yatra.