Gurugram | Troubled by smart phone addiction and steer youngsters away from the influence of cybercrime, people in Haryana’s Sukhpuri village have taken a drastic step to break free from the habit -- smashing phones into pieces.
A video showing people in Nuh district destroying 35 expensive mobile phones has gone viral on social media.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Abhishek Khatkar said on Tuesday that the incident occurred last week following the panchayat’s decision to ban smartphones completely in the village.
Asaf Ali, a villager of Sukhpuri village, said, "It was a symbolic initiative. We cannot stop everyone, but if the youth stay away from mobile phones, they will stop getting involved in cybercrime.”
The panchayat has now decided to switch to keypad phones.
The decision stems from police identifying 60 villages in the district as cybercrime hotspots, with nearly one in nine cybercrime cases reported across the country traced to Nuh.
According to officials, Nuh, in recent years, has emerged as a hub of India’s organised cybercrime, surpassing Jharkhand’s Jamtara in terms of capacity and scale.
They said that unemployment, poverty and easy access to low-cost smartphones with good internet connectivity have lured youths into making phishing calls and earn quick money.
Villagers believe that the smartphone addiction lies at the root of many of their problems, with some claiming that it has even driven families apart.
The panchayat had declared they would sever all links with the criminal world and switch back to basic keypad handsets.
New Delhi | The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has arrested a proclaimed offender from Jaipur in connection with an alleged Rs 9-crore "rice puller" fraud, in which a businessman was duped into investing in purported antique items on the promise of massive returns, an officer of the force said on Tuesday.
Accused Satyanarayan Anoria (53) was arrested from Jaipur in Rajasthan in connection with a case registered in April 2020, the EOW said in a statement.
According to police, the complainant had alleged that he was approached in 2014 by Anoria and his associates, who claimed to possess expertise in rare and antique artefacts, including so-called rice pullers and radioactive mirrors.
The accused allegedly represented themselves as specialists connected with reputed scientific institutions in India and abroad, and claimed that only scientists from organisations, such as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and archaeological laboratories, could verify the authenticity of the items, the statement said.
"To convince the complainant, the accused claimed that the artefacts had extraordinary scientific properties and were worth around Rs 11 crore per inch in the international market, promising enormous profits from future transactions," it added.
Police said the complainant was subsequently persuaded to pay large sums of money towards testing charges, certification fees and other expenses. Over a period of time, he allegedly transferred nearly Rs 9 crore through RTGS transactions, cheques and cash payments.
"However, no genuine testing was conducted and no antique items were delivered," the statement said, adding that the accused had allegedly conspired to cheat the complainant and siphon off the money.
Investigators said the fraud was executed through a well-planned scheme, in which the accused exploited the long-running myth surrounding "rice pullers" -- objects falsely claimed to possess magnetic or radioactive properties and extraordinary commercial value.
A dedicated EOW team tracked Anoria to Jaipur and arrested him after sustained efforts, police said.
During the investigation, police found that Anoria was previously employed with the Jaipur Municipal Corporation but was dismissed from service in 2018 after allegedly being found involved in six similar financial-fraud cases. He is presently working as a priest at a temple.
Further investigation is on to identify others linked to the alleged fraud.
New Delhi | The Delhi Police has busted a cyber fraud module involved in procuring and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber criminals across the country and arrested three people from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, an officer said on Tuesday.
The accused allegedly arranged bank accounts that were used to receive and route proceeds of online financial frauds in exchange for commissions, he said.
The arrests were made in connection with an FIR registered at the Uttam Nagar police station on June 16.
The accused have been identified as Kapil Kumar (22) and Puru Kumar (23), both residents of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, and Shishupal (22), a resident of Etawah district.
According to police, a team of Dwarka district was tracking people involved in cyber fraud activities when it received information about a suspect operating from Uttam Nagar.
Acting on the tip-off, the team raided a rented accommodation in the area and apprehended Kapil Kumar. During searches, police recovered five ATM cards, eight cheque books and five passbooks linked to multiple bank accounts.
During interrogation, Kapil allegedly disclosed that he facilitated the opening of bank accounts and supplied them to cyber fraudsters through associates for commissions.
"Based on his inputs, team arrested Shishupal, who arranged the accounts, and Puru Kumar, whose account was allegedly used to route cheated money," the officer said.
Police recovered cash worth Rs 2.19 lakh, nine ATM cards, eight cheque books, five passbooks, four mobile phones and eight rubber stamps from the accused. An amount of Rs 2.04 lakh lying in one of the accounts has also been put on hold.
Police said it was revealed that the accused targeted unemployed and financially vulnerable people, persuading them to open bank accounts that were later handed over to cyber criminals. Police said 15 complaints involving transactions worth over Rs 50 lakh linked to the accounts have surfaced on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal from several states.
