4 held for running fake air ticket racket; ₹47 lakh cash seized

NEw new delhi, iv cyber fraudsters feature been arrested for allegedly running a multi-city racquet for duping people on the stalking-horse of booking discounted air tickets, an official said on Thursday.The police recovered ₹47 lakh in cash and a Mercedes S-Class car, among other things, from the possession of the accused, the official said.The accused have been identified as Mridul Joshi , the mastermind, Himanshu Anil Sharma , Gaurav and Rakesh ."The syndicate was operating across Delhi, Goa and Mumbai, targeting victims through social media platforms and fake travel booking services," Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Goel said in a statement.According to the police, the case came to light after a complaint was lodged at the Cyber Police Station in the Southwest district on April 7. The complainant alleged that his brother, based in Canada, was cheated of ₹3.8 lakh while attempting to book flight tickets from Toronto to Delhi through a social media page offering discounted fares.The victim was contacted via a US-based number and persuaded to transfer money on the assurance of confirmed bookings, which later turned out to be fraudulent. A team was constituted to probe the matter and analyse digital footprints, call detail records and financial transactions.Investigators traced the operation to a coordinated network spanning multiple locations. Police said Joshi was running the operation from Patel Nagar in Delhi and had set up a fake call centre in Goa to target victims. He arranged mule bank accounts from Mumbai to route and withdraw the cheated money."Raids were conducted at several locations, leading to the arrest of Joshi and the recovery of ₹47 lakh in cash, a Mercedes S-Class car, seven mobile phones, two laptops, a point-of-sale machine and a WiFi router from his possession," the DCP said.Further investigation led to the arrest of Sharma from Maharashtra's Palghar district, who was involved in supplying mule bank accounts. Two other accused, Gaurav and Rakesh, were also apprehended for providing bank accounts used to siphon off funds.Police recovered additional mobile phones, fake SIM cards, ATM cards and banking documents from the accused."The racket operated through a website and social media platforms, luring victims with attractive discounts on international flight tickets. Payments were collected under false assurances, and the accused used multiple accounts to layer transactions," the officer said.Preliminary investigation has revealed that the syndicate may have duped several victims across the country, with around 19 complaints registered on the national cybercrime portal involving transactions of about ₹25 lakh. Further investigation is underway to identify other members.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.