The Punjab Police on Monday arrested the prime accused behind a sophisticated online scam involving a fake website of the state's mining department, which was used to generate counterfeit receipts for facilitating illegal mining operations, a senior official said.
The arrested individual, identified as Gaurav Kumar, a resident of Kharar in SAS Nagar, meticulously designed a duplicate of the official mining department website, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav. The fraudulent platform was created to issue bogus receipts and forms, allowing vehicles engaged in illegal mining to bypass security checks.
"The counterfeit slips even featured a QR scanner code similar to the official mining website, making it easier for vehicles to evade scrutiny," DGP Yadav added.
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2,000 fake receipts, Rs 40-50 lakh loss to state exchequer
Preliminary investigations revealed that Kumar, in collusion with an accomplice from Ferozepur, had generated more than 2,000 fake mining receipts. This illicit activity caused an estimated revenue loss of Rs 40-50 lakh to the Punjab government, the DGP stated.
Authorities have recovered the website's backup data, which contains crucial details, including fake receipts, images of vehicles, sources and destinations of mining material, and the computer systems used in the fraud.
According to Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) V Neeraja, who heads the Cybercrime Division, the investigation was launched following a complaint from the chief engineer of the mining department. The complaint alleged that the official website had been compromised and that a fraudulent website was being used to facilitate unlawful mining activities.
During the probe, cybercrime specialists discovered that the fake website was registered and hosted on GoDaddy, a US-based domain service provider. Working in coordination with GoDaddy’s legal team and various internet service providers, investigators successfully traced the website's creation back to the accused, Gaurav Kumar.
The police tracked Kumar’s IP addresses and mobile numbers, leading to raids at multiple locations, ultimately resulting in his arrest.
"Another accused involved in this scam has also been identified, and efforts are underway to apprehend him," ADGP Neeraja said. Investigations are ongoing to uncover the full extent of the network involved in this fraudulent scheme.
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