Wednesday, 19 July 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Uttarakhand police have caught two masterminds of separate gangs who are believed to be running multiple fake helicopter booking websites and insurance policy scams nationwide. More than 7,000 complaints are registered against both accused across the country and the police will approach the director general of police (DGPs) of other states to ensure these culprits are sent to jail through detailed investigation and analysis, said the Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar.
He stated this in a Press conference held in Sardar Patel Bhawan on Tuesday. He said that the cyber cell police station of Special Task Force recently arrested a man named Ajit Rathi who was running a fake insurance policy scam along with his gang members for the past seven years duping people across the country. He had also reportedly duped an 82-year-old man in the State of Rs 42 lakh in a period of nearly four years. The authorities found in the investigation that about 1,400 complaints and 72 FIRs are registered against him in various states and union territories. Besides this, the STF also arrested the accused Neeraj Kumar from Bihar last week who was reportedly behind operating 41 fake helicopter booking websites. There are 6,100 complaints registered against him across the country along with 280 FIRs, said DGP.
He said that two of his accomplices were also arrested by STF and the remaining gang members will be nabbed soon too. He said that scams committed via fake helicopter booking websites are quite new as the police received its first complaint last year during Char Dham Yatra. “Most of the victims belong to the southern part of the country as many are not aware of the authentic websites authorised by the government for helicopter booking. We have blocked 41 websites so far that could have potentially duped hundreds of pilgrims across the country.
We are also working to nab other members of this gang too,” said Kumar. He said that he will send letters to DGPs of other states as well to ensure these culprits do not get out to commit similar crimes again. The police will also act against these culprits under the Gangster Act, added DGP.
