A ₹6,450 INSTAGRAM SHOPPING FRAUD COMPLAINT BY A DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENT LED TO THE EXPOSURE OF A LARGE-SCALE CYBER FRAUD NETWORK, METICULOUS TECHNICAL SURVEILLANCE, ANALYSIS OF NEARLY 200 MOBILE NUMBERS/IMEIs AND A 2,000-KM OPERATION LED TO COORDINATED RAIDS IN GREATER NOIDA AND KANPUR, RESULTING IN SEVEN ARRESTS, APPROXIMATELY 25 BANK ACCOUNTS OPENED IN THE NAMES OF FAKE FIRMS AND INDIVIDUALS, ALLEGEDLY USED TO CHANNEL CHEATED MONEY THROUGH AN ORGANISED NETWORK., MBA-QUALIFIED ACCUSED EMERGED AS A KEY LINK IN THE SYNDICATE, ALLEGEDLY SUPPLYING BANK ACCOUNTS TO CYBER FRAUDSTERS ON A COMMISSION BASIS/ OVER ₹30 CRORE IN CREDIT TRANSACTIONS TRACED THROUGH SUSPECTED BANK ACCOUNTS; 27 CYBER FRAUD COMPLAINTS FROM DIFFERENT STATES LINKED TO THE NETWORK SO FAR., SUBSTANTIAL RECOVERY: 20 MOBILE PHONES, 45 SIM CARDS, 39 POS MACHINES, 33 DEBIT CARDS, 28 CHEQUE BOOKS, 15 SCANNERS, 02 LAPTOPS AND NUMEROUS BANKING DOCUMENTS SEIZED.
Face2News/New Delhi
A complaint was received at PS Cyber North from Complainant, a resident of Allahabad, UP presently studying at Ramjas College, University of Delhi regarding online cheating of ₹6,450/- lodged on the NCRP Portal vide Acknowledgement No. 30804260030782.
The complainant stated that she came across an Instagram advertisement for a kurti through the account “Kavya_kurti_hub” and was redirected to WhatsApp No. 9057898XXX, where she placed an order worth ₹799 and paid ₹400 in advance through a QR code.
Subsequently, she received a call from mobile No. 769100XXXX regarding parcel delivery and was asked to provide a passcode. On contacting the seller, she was induced to pay ₹1,150 as a refundable charge for generating the code, followed by further payments of ₹2,000, ₹2,650 and ₹650 on similar pretexts. Despite receiving the payments, the alleged seller neither delivered the parcel nor refunded the amount. Accordingly, FIR No. 36/2026 dated 04.09.2026 was registered at PS Cyber North and investigation was taken up.
TEAM, INVESTIGATION & OPERATION:
A dedicated team led by SI Arvind Yadav comprising HC Himanshu and HC Ravi was constituted under the supervision of Insp. Rohit Gahlot, SHO/Cyber PS North, under the guidance of Sh. Vishesh Dhatterwal, ACP/Operations/North, and Sh. Ram Dulesh Meena, Addl. DCP/North and overall supervision of DCP/North District.
During investigation, extensive technical analysis of nearly 200 mobile numbers and IMEIs, banking transactions and digital records obtained from Flipkart, Zomato and Blue Dart was conducted. The cheated amount was traced through Pine Labs Merchant to a Canara Bank account of Kizentech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Greater Noida linked to Aditya Mishra and Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya.
Despite frequent changes in the suspects’ locations, sustained surveillance led to coordinated raids in Greater Noida on 16.10.2026, resulting in the arrest of six accused—Aditya Mishra, Ayush Verma, Abhishek Pal, Himanshu Rana, Rahul Kumar and Gaurav Pandey. Further leads resulted in the arrest of Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya from Kanpur on 21.10.2026, taking the total to seven arrests.
Raids at rented premises in Greater Noida uncovered three suspected firms—Kizentech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Executive Edge and Nexcore. Several mobile phones, SIM cards, banking documents and electronic devices were recovered. Analysis of the seized evidence is underway to establish further links with other cyber fraud cases.
INTERROGATION: During interrogation, Aditya Mishra disclosed that he along with Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya, Ayush Verma and Abhishek Pal had allegedly established fake firms and opened current bank accounts which were handed over to Himanshu Rana and Rahul Kumar against a monthly payment of ₹25,000.
Himanshu and Rahul disclosed that they further supplied these accounts along with banking kits and linked SIM cards to Gaurav Pandey. Gaurav allegedly operated a bank account supply syndicate and provided the accounts to individuals identified as Maxwell and Solitaire on a commission basis. The latter reportedly communicated through WhatsApp numbers bearing the USA country code.MODUS
OPERANDI: Investigation revealed that Gaurav Pandey, an MBA degree holder, allegedly financed his associates to arrange individuals for opening Current and Savings Bank Accounts against monetary incentives of approximately ₹25,000 per month.
The syndicate allegedly rented premises, established fake firms and prepared documents to open bank accounts. The account kits and linked SIM cards were collected by Himanshu Rana and Rahul Kumar and supplied through Gaurav Pandey to Maxwell and Solitaire on a commission basis. These accounts were allegedly used to receive and route money obtained through cyber frauds. said, Niharika Bhatt, IPS, Dy. Commissioner of Police, North District, Delhi.
KNOW THE ACCUSED:
Aditya Mishra, aged 23 years, R/o Barra-7, Kanpur Nagar, UP; a BBA graduate. Ayush Verma, aged 22 years, R/o Barra-7, Kanpur Nagar, UP; a BCA graduate. Abhishek Pal, aged 23 years, R/o Nauriya Kheda, Dada Nagar, Kanpur, UP; holds an ITI qualification., Rahul Kumar, aged 30 years, R/o Pipauri, Post-Mardanpur, Kanpur, UP; a BA graduate. Himanshu Rana, aged 29 years, R/o Pipauri, Post-Mardanpur, Kanpur, UP; a BA graduate.Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya, aged 22 years, R/o Capital Vihar, Patarsa, Mardanpur, Kanpur, UP; a BBA graduate. Gaurav Pandey, aged 24 years, R/o Kidwai Nagar, Kanpur, UP; holds an MBA degree.
RECOVERY: 20 Mobile Phones, 45 SIM Cards, 28 Cheque Books, 4. 33 Debit Cards, 5. 39 POS machine,, 6. 15 Scanner, 05 stamps, 07 Aadhar cards, 05 Pan cards,02 Laptops,. 21 bank account related documents
