Himachal cryptocurrency scam: SIT to seek warrant for extradition of kingpin from UAE

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Rs 2,500-crore cryptocurrency scam would approach the competent court on November 28 to seek a warrant for the extradition of fugitive kingpin Subhash Sharma from UAE, officials said on Saturday.

"The kingpin of the scam Subhash Sharma from Sarkaghat in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district is still at large and as per our information, he is hiding in UAE. Efforts are underway to bring him back," Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) northern range, Abhishek Dhullar, who is heading the SIT, told PTI.

The multi-crore cryptocurrency ponzi scam started in 2018. The investors smelled something fishy when they stopped getting returns during the Covid pandemic when most business activities came to a halt.

Later when they asked the accused about their pending returns, they realised they had fallen into a trap and were threatened to keep shut, the police said.

The fraudsters threatened the victims that they would lose all their invested money if they reported the matter to the police, which deterred them from lodging a complaint, they added.

However, after the scam was exposed in 2022, hundreds of victims came forward and uncovered the modus operandi of the accused. Over 300 complaints have been received in this regard so far, the officials said.

The SIT investigation has also revealed that the kingpin and his main associates invested in plots and flats in Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana besides buying luxury items including high-end cars, which were otherwise out of their reach and even indulged in tax evasion, they added.

A total of 19 persons including some of the main accused -- Hemraj, Sukhdev, both from Mandi and Arun Guleria and Abhishekh from Una have been arrested, the DGP Sanjay Kundu had said.

"We are now coming to the second layer where 70-80 persons who earned over Rs 2 crore each from the investment made by new people into the scheme," he said.

The Himachal Police is also coordinating with the central and financial agencies and other state police, the DGP had said, adding that action was being taken against the criminals under the Banning of Unregulated Deposits Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019.

The scammers lured innocent people by promising handsome returns in a short period and built a network of investors.

People from different sections of the society including policemen, teachers and others got involved in the scheme for quick returns.

The accused approached people with an investment plan related to a locally made (in Mandi district) cryptocurrency known as 'Korvio Coin' or KRO coins.

The accused used a combination of misinformation, deception and threats to maintain control over the scheme causing huge financial losses to the victims.

Three to four kinds of cryptocurrency were used and fake websites were created to show inflated prices of the cryptocurrency coins. The website used for the crypto-scam had around 2.5 lakh different IDs.

Over a thousand police personnel have also fallen victim to the fraud.

While a majority of them were duped of crores of rupees, some of them made huge gains by creating chains by roping in more investors. They opted for voluntary retirement and started promoting the ponzi scheme.

Crime rate highest in Solan; Hamirpur safest district in state

Solan district figures last among 12 districts of the state in crime and law and order index released recently by the State's Economic and Statistics Department for 2022.

Crime against women key parameter

• Hamirpur district tops with a score of 0.735, followed by Shimla with a score of 0.722 and Lahaul Spiti with a score of 0.711 on the index
• While the average index of the state was 0.609, five districts of Kangra, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Mandi and Solan have below average score
• Crime against women constitutes the key parameter of assessing a district's crime, law and order in the report released recently.

The district comprises two police districts of Solan and Baddi with the crime rate being high in the latter. The Baddi police district has been dubbed as the crime capital of the state where apart from the nefarious operations of various inter-state gangs for ransom, crime against women was high. While cases of shootouts emerge every now and then, heinous crimes like rape, illegal mining, etc., are high here though it is a mere subdivision.

Cases of spurious drug manufacturing have also been largely associated with the Baddi police district.

The magnitude of the crime against women, both individually as well as in the families and society as a whole, is immeasurable, notes the report. Crime against women constitutes the key parameter of assessing a district's crime, law and order in the report.

While the average index of the state was 0.609, five districts of Kangra, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Mandi and Solan have below average score. The law and order in these districts lacked apt handling.

The remaining seven districts of Hamirpur, Shimla, Lahaul Spiti, Kullu, Una, Bilaspur and Chamba have a lower index than the state's average pointing towards better law and order. The gap between the top and lowest performer index is 0.327 points whereas the gap between the state's average and lowest performer district is 0.201 points.

While Hamirpur district tops with a score of 0.735. It is followed by Shimla with a score of 0.722 and Lahaul Spiti with a score of 0.711.

Though the bordering districts are supposed to be more crime-prone, Una occupies fifth slot with a score of 0.673 while Bilaspur is at the sixth place with a score of 0.638.

The tribal district of Kinnaur figures at the10th spot with a score of 0.485.

The biggest district of Kangra fares at eighth position while Sirmaur occupies the ninth position and is better placed than Solan despite having a sizable number of industrial migrant workforce.

1,000 sedative pills seized

A special team of the Solan police seized 1,000 tablets of tapentadol, an opioid pain-reliever, from three youth in the Deoghat area on Friday.

The youth have been identified as Sandeep Kumar (26), Ajay Kumar (22) and Rahul (26).

Solan SP Gaurav Singh said the case has been forwarded to the drugs department for action against the suspects under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

In another development, the police on Friday arrested Rohit Saigal (34), a resident of Baltana, Punjab, from Mani Majra. He was wanted by the police for supplying heroin to the youth in Himachal. He had been operating in the state for the past seven years.

The SP said the police had zeroed in on the network being operated by him following the arrest of two Shimla youth, Mehul Sharma (26) and Achal Bragta (23), from the Dohri Dewal area of Solan on October 26 for possessing 6.17gm heroin. The duo had been buying heroin from Saigal, who had gone into hiding after their arrest.

The police busted seven networks and arrested 56 inter-state suppliers from Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Delhi have been arrested over the past few months. This also includes four African nationals.

Cryptocurrency Fraud: मंडी से शुरू होकर पूरे राज्य में फैला क्रिप्टोकरेंसी ठगी का जाल, अब तक नौ आरोपी गिरफ्तार

क्रिप्टोकरेंसी ठगी की शुरुआत जिला मंडी से हुई। यहीं से आरोपियों ने करोड़पति बनने के लिए इस धंधे को अंजाम दिया। पुलिस एसआईटी की ओर से अब तक नौ लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है। इसमें छह लोग मंडी जिले के ही हैं। मुख्य आरोपी सुभाष भी इसी जिले का है। इन आरोपियों ने पहले अपने रिश्तेदार और संगे संबंधियों को विश्वास में लिया। उनका पैसा क्रिप्टोकरेंसी में लगाया। 11 महीने के बाद इन लोगों का पैसा भी डबल करके दिया। लोगों को विश्वास होने के बाद लोग जुड़ते गए।

इसके बाद ये आरोपी हमीरपुर, बिलासपुर, ऊना और सिरमौर की तरफ बढ़े। यहां इन आरोपियों ने पहले चुनिंदा लोगों को एजेंट बनाया। इसके बाद लोगों को निवेश करने का झांसा दिया। अब तक ढाई लाख लोगों के क्रिप्टोकरेंसी में निवेश करने का खुलासा हो चुका है। बाहरी राज्यों में भी इन आरोपियों ने लोगों को ठगा है। विभिन्न माध्यमों से 2300 करोड़ रुपये की ट्रांजेक्शन सामने आ चुकी है। आने वाले समय में यह आंकड़ा बढ़ भी सकता है। मामले में गिरफ्तारियां होने के बाद अब पता चल रहा है कि क्रिप्टो करेंसी के नाम पर हुई ठगी ने सैकड़ों लोगों की कमर तोड़कर रख दी है।

शातिर इस खेल में ग्रामीणों को अपनी धनराशि उनके नाम पर निवेश करके झांसे में लेते थे। शातिर आईडी बनाकर देते थे और फिर मोबाइल पर ही वेबसाइट में डॉलर और कॉइन दिखाकर रोजाना इनकी बढ़ोतरी दिखाते। इस पर ग्रामीण धनराशि लगाने के लिए खुद आगे आते। शातिर आईडी बनाने के नाम पर पहली किस्त की 37 हजार रुपये की धनराशि खुद ही भरने की हामी भरते और ग्रामीणों को खूब सपने दिखाते। इसी तरह यह ठगी का खेल चलता रहा। बाद में डॉलर और कॉइन सिर्फ वेबसाइट तक ही सीमित रहे और निवेश करने वालों के हाथ कुछ नहीं लग सका।

इंजीनियरों ने भी लगाया है पैसाआईएएस, आईएफएस और एचएएस के अलावा कई इंजीनियर भी इन ठगों के शिकार हुए हैं। विभिन्न विभागों के इंजीनियरों और ठेकेदारों ने भी पैसा डबल होने के चक्कर में निवेश किया है। अब ये लोग एजेंटों को फोन कर मूलधन की ही मांग कर रहे हैं। कइयों ने जिदंगीभर की कमाई लगा दी क्रिप्टोकरेंसी में- मंडी, कांगड़ा में कई लोगों ने जिंदगीभर की कमाई क्रिप्टोकरेंसी में लगा दी है। पुलिस एसआईटी की मानना है कि कई लोगों ने पैसा डबल होने के चक्कर में बैंकों से लोन तक लिए हैं।

 

Over 1,000 Himachal cops fell victim to cryptocurrency fraud, some quit jobs to promote it

Over a thousand police personnel fell victim to a fake local cryptocurrency created by fraudsters in Himachal's Mandi district, an official said on Thursday.

A majority of the police personnel who invested in the fake cryptocurrency were duped of crores of rupees, but some of them made huge gains, became promoters of the scheme, and roped in more investors for it, according to investigators of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the scam. According to police, at least one lakh people have been duped by the fraudsters in the cryptocurrency fraud, and 2.5 lakh IDs have been found ndash; which included multiple IDs of the same person.

To get investors, the scammers launched two cryptocurrencies ndash; 'Korvio Coin' (or KRO) and 'DGT Coin' ndash;and created fake websites with manipulated prices of these digital currencies.

They lured the initial investors by promising them high returns in a short span of time. They also created a network of investors, who further expanded the chain within their own circles.

Policemen, teachers and others got involved in the scheme for quick returns.

Although a majority of the police personnel involved suffered losses, their promotion of the scheme created trust among the investors and gave credibility to the investment plan.

Some policemen involved in the cryptocurrency scheme opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), and became its promoters, a police official told PTI on Thursday on the condition of anonymity.

"We will get all the wrongdoershellip; The investigation is progressing in an organised and planned manner," DGP Sanjay Kundu said. He added that all those involved in the scam will be dealt with strongly as per law.

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a blockchain-based computer network that is not dependent on any central authority, such as the government or bank to uphold or maintain it.

The scam started in 2018, with a majority of victims from Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra districts. In certain cases, a single person roped in up to 1,000 people.

The accused used a combination of misinformation, deception and threats to maintain control over their scheme and continue extracting money from unsuspecting investors by manipulating the cryptocurrency prices which led to huge financial losses to the victims, the police had earlier said.

The cryptocurrency scammers approached people with an investment plan related to alocally made cryptocurrency known as 'Korvio Coin' or KRO coins, and charged an initial activation fee for getting their accounts activated. Three to four kinds of cryptocurrency were used.

The scammers built fake websites to list their coins and manipulated their prices. Later, they launched a new coin called 'DGT Coin.' After enough people had purchased these coins at a higher rate, its price was deliberately brought down causing massive financial losses to the investors.

The investigation also revealed that apart from cryptocurrency, other deposit schemes, such as a 10 per cent monthly return on a Rs 90,000 deposit, police said.

Police have cautioned the general public to be careful if any scheme promises over 12 per cent annual returns.

Two main accused Sukhdev and Hemraj, who were earlier in the month arrested from Gujarat, confessed during interrogation that they have outstanding liabilities of Rs 400 crore. The alleged kingpin of the scam, Subash, is still at large.

किसने गायब कर दी 33 किलो चरस? पकड़ी गई थी 110 किलो, लेकिन मालखाने में है सिर्फ... जांच के आदेश

हिमाचल प्रदेश हाईकोर्ट (Himachal High Court) ने मालखाने से गायब हुई 33 किलोग्राम चरस के मामले में गृह सचिव व पुलिस महानिदेशक को आदेश दिए हैं कि वह इसकी जांच करें और जिम्मेदार कर्मियों के विरुद्ध आवश्यक कार्रवाई करें। चरस तस्करी से जुड़े इस मामले में बंजार पुलिस स्टेशन के समक्ष 14 जनवरी 2021 को प्राथमिकी दर्ज की गई थी।

110 kg बरामद हुई थी चरस

तीन आरोपितों से कुल 110 किलोग्राम चरस बरामद की गई थी। पुलिस ने एक आरोपित को मौके पर ही पकड़ा था जबकि दो फरार हो गए थे। दो दिन में इन दोनों को भी पुलिस ने हिरासत में लिया था।न्यायाधीश संदीप शर्मा ने दो आरोपितों की जमानत याचिका की सुनवाई के पश्चात पाया कि आरोपितों से 110 किलोग्राम चरस बरामद की गई थी। इसमें से एक-एक किलो के तीन सैंपल प्रयोगशाला परीक्षण को लिए गए थे।

74 किलो की गई नष्ट

शेष 107 किलोग्राम चरस को मालखाने में रखा गया था। इसमें से कुल 74 किलोग्राम चरस को तीन अलग-अलग पार्सल बनाकर नष्ट कर दिया गया। शेष 33 किलो ग्राम चरस का कोई पता नहीं चला कि वह कहां गायब हो गई। राज्य सरकार की ओर से यह दलील दी गई थी कि शायद 33 किलोग्राम चरस सूख गई। इस पर न्यायालय ने आश्चर्य जताया और न्यायालय ने इस प्रकरण को लेकर जांच का जिम्मा सचिव गृह व पुलिस महानिदेशक को सौंपा।

ED के हाथ लगी बड़ी सफलता, छात्रवृत्ति घोटाले में जब्त की 6.25 करोड़ रुपये की संपत्ति

हिमाचल प्रदेश के 250 करोड़ रुपये के छात्रवृत्ति घोटाले में ईडी ने 6.25 करोड़ रुपये की संपत्ति जब्त की है। इसमें मोहाली और शिमला में पांच आवासीय प्लाट और 14 बैंक खातों की राशि शामिल है। इसे अस्थायी रूप से जब्त कर लिया है। प्रिवेंशन आफ मनी लांड्रिग एक्ट (पीएमएलए), 2002 के प्रविधानों के तहत राजदीप सिंह, कृष्ण कुमार और अन्य की संपत्ति जब्त की गई।

ईडी छात्रवृत्ति घोटाले में सीबीआइ शिमला की ओर से दर्ज एफआइआर के आधार पर जांच कर रही है। ईडी की जांच से पता चला कि राजदीप सिंह और कृष्ण कुमार ने मेसर्स एएसएएमएस एजुकेशन ग्रुप एंड स्किल डेवलपमेंट सोसायटी के माध्यम से जाली दस्तावेज पेश करके एससी/एसटी/ओबीसी छात्रों के लिए पोस्ट-मैट्रिक योजना के तहत छात्रवृत्ति का दावा किया था।

इन दावों को अरविंद राजटा ने सत्यापित किया था, जो उच्च शिक्षा निदेशालय में तैनात था। ईडी ने 31 अगस्त को राजदीप सिंह और कृष्ण कुमार को गिरफ्तार किया था। हितेश गांधी, उपाध्यक्ष केसी ग्रुप आफ इंस्टीट्यूशंस, पंडोगा और उच्च शिक्षा निदेशालय की छात्रवृत्ति शाखा के तत्कालीन अधिकारी अरविंद राजटा सहित चारों आरोपित न्यायिक हिरासत में हैं।

इससे पहले वर्ष, 2022 में 4.42 करोड़ रुपये की संपत्ति कुर्क की गई है। इस मामले में अब तक कुर्क की गई अपराध की कुल आय 10.67 करोड़ रुपये है।यह है मामला 2013 से 17 तक प्री और पोस्ट मैट्रिक छात्रवृत्ति के तौर पर विद्यार्थियों को 266.32 करोड़ रुपये दिए गए। 

इनमें गड़बड़ी पोस्ट मैट्रिक छात्रवृत्ति में हुई है। आरोप है कि कई संस्थानों ने फर्जी दस्तावेज के आधार पर छात्रवृत्ति की मोटी राशि हड़प ली। जनजातीय क्षेत्रों के विद्यार्थियों को कई साल तक छात्रवृत्ति ही नहीं मिल पाई। थाना छोटा शिमला में 16 नवंबर, 2018 में शिक्षा विभाग की शिकायत पर पुलिस ने एफआइआर दर्ज की थी। फिर मामला सीबीआइ को दे दिया गया। सीबीआइ ने सात मई, 2019 को एफआइआर दर्ज कर मनी लांड्रिग के तहत कार्रवाई के लिए मामला ईडी को भेजा गया। ईडी ने 29 अगस्त को चार राज्यों में दबिश दी थी व 31 अगस्त को चार आरोपितों को गिरफ्तार किया था। 

प्रदेश में साइबर अपराध की 10 हजार से अधिक शिकायतें: एस.आर.मरडी

शिमला, 21 दिसम्बर । हिमाचल पुलिस व प्रेस क्लब शिमला के संयुक्त तत्वाधान में शनिवार को प्रेस क्लब भवन में साइबर क्राइम एवं सुरक्षा विषय पर कार्यशाला का आयोजन किया गया। राज्य के पुलिस महानिदेशक एस.आर.मरडी ने कार्यशाला का शुभारंभ करते हुए कहा कि आज के डिजिटल जमाने में साइबर क्राइम के मामले लगातार बढ़ रहे हैं तथा पढ़े-लिखे लोग यहां तक कि सेवानिवृत अधिकारी भी इसके शिकार हो रहे हैं। साइबर अपराध ठगी के नए-नए तरीके अपनाते हैं और पकड़े जाने पर समय के साथ ही ठगी का तरीका भी बदल रहे हैं। ज्यादातर लोग पैसों के लालच व अज्ञानता के कारण जालसाजों के झांसे में आ जाते हैं।

पुलिस महानिदेशक ने कहा कि पुलिस प्रशासन साइबर अपराधियों से निपटने में पुरी तत्परता से काम कर रहा है तथा पुलिस के अधिकारियों को समय-समय पर प्रशिक्षित किया जाता है। उन्होंने कहा कि साइबर अपराध पर अंकुश लगाने के लिए पुलिस काफी सक्रिय है। अगर कही भी साइबर अपराध संबंधित मामले सामने आता है तो मामले की जांच कर त्वरित कार्रवाई की जाती है। साइबर पुलिस ने ठगी के कई मामलों को सुलझाया भी है और कई मामलों में ठगी गई रकम भी शिकायतकर्ता को वापिस करवाई है। कहा कि साइबर अपराध का शिकार होने वाले पीड़ित अगर तुरंत साइबर पुलिस के संज्ञान में मामले को लाते हैं, तो काफी हद तक उन्हें ठगी से बचाना संभव हो जाता है।

पुलिस महानिदेशक ने आगे कहा कि इस वर्ष प्रदेश में साइबर अपराध से जुड़ी 10 हजार से अधिक शिकायतें सामने आई है। अकेले साईबर थाना पुलिस को 1500 से अधिक शिकायतें मिली हैं। साइबर थाना पुलिस करीब 12 लाख से अधिक की राशि लोगों को वापस दिलवाने में भी सफल रहा है। उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि यदि कोई साइबर ठगी को शिकार हो भी जाता है तो वह जल्द से जल्द पुलिस और संबंधित बैंक को सूचित करे। उन्होंने कहा कि साइबर अपराधियों के बढ़ते मामलों के मददेनजर पुलिस को यह निर्देश दिए गए हैं कि अगर कोई एक रुपया भी मांगता है तो थाने में बुलाकर उसकी जांच करवाई जाए। ताकि आम जनता के साथ किसी भी तरह की ठगी न हो।

मरडी ने कहा कि साइबर अपराध को रोकने के लिए जागरूकता भी बहुत जरूरी है और इसमें मीडिया की भूमिका बहुत अहम है। लोगों को अपने डेबिट कार्ड का सावधानी से इस्तेमाल करना चाहिए। डेबिट कार्ड का तीन अंकों का नंबर और ओटीपी किसी से सांझा नहीं करना चाहिए। खासकर दूसरी बार ओटीपी नंबर सांझा करने पर बैंक खाता पल भर में शून्य होने में देरी नहीं लगती। उन्होंने सेविंग बैंक अकाउंट में ज्यादा रकम न रखने की भी सलाह दी और कहा कि सेविंग अकाउंट में केवल रोजमर्रा जरूरत का पैसा ही रखा जाना सुरक्षित है। अधिक रकम होने पर इसकी एफडी बनानी चाहिए।

साइबर विशेषज्ञ के रूप में साइबर क्राइम के पुलिस अधीक्षक संदीप धवल ने मीडिया कर्मियों को साइबर अपराध से संबंधित कई प्रकार के महत्वपूर्ण बिदुओं के बारे में प्रोजेक्टर के जरिए विस्तार पूर्वक जानकारी दी। कहा कि आज के दौर में एंड्रायड फोन का सही इस्तेमाल करना बेहद जरूरी है, अन्यथा साइबर अपराधी बड़ी आसानी से ठगी का शिकार बना लेते हैं। उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि कंपनियों के टोल फ्री नंबरों के जरिए भी साइबर शातिर ठगी को अंजाम दे रहे हैं। इसका कारण यह भी है कि टोल फ्री नंबरों को आउटसोर्स कर दिया जाता है और फ्राॅड करने वालों के पास यह आसानी से पहुंच जाता है।

संदीप धवल ने साइबर अपराधियों द्वारा हैक करने वाले तरीकों पर प्रकाश डालते हुए कहा कि किसी के भी ईमेल व सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफार्म को हैक किया जा सकता है और इनसे बचने के लिए लोगों को मजबूत पासवर्ड रखने चाहिए। इसके अलावा उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि साइबर क्रिमिनल डुप्लीकेट सिम के जरिए भी फर्जीवाड़े को अंजाम दे रहे हैं। शिमला के एक कारोबारी के बैंक खाते से डुप्लीकेट सिम के जरिए 31 लाख रूपये उड़ाए गए। उन्होंने इंटरनैट के इस्तेमाल के दौरान आने वाले विभिन्न अनवांटड लिंकों पर क्लिक न करने की भी सलाह दी।

डीएसपी साइबर क्राइम नरवीर राठौर ने कार्यशाला में कहा कि साइबर अपराध को संगठित तरीके से अंजाम दिया जा रहा है और जागरूकता के जरिए ही इससे खुद को सुरक्षित किया जा सकता है। साइबर क्राइम होने का एक बड़ा कारण स्मार्ट फोन का गलत इस्तेमाल है। लोग बिना सोचे समझे साइबर अपराधियों द्वारा भेजे जाने वाले लिक को क्लिक कर देते हैं, जिससे वह उनके आसानी से शिकार बन रहे हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि यह लिंक आपके भविष्य बताने वाले, आपके जीवन साथी के बारे में, शादी कब होगी वगैरह शामिल हैं। इस तरह के लिंक प्रायरू साइबर अपराधियों द्वारा आपके फोन से आपका डाटा व आपकी निजी जानकारी चुराने के लिए भेजे जाते हैं, जो आने वाले समय में आपके लिए परेशानी खड़ी कर सकती है।

इस दौरान प्रेस क्लब शिमला के अध्यक्ष अनिल भारद्वाज ने कहा कि साइबर सुरक्षा जागरूकता को लेकर प्रेस क्लब में पहली बार इस तरह की कार्यशाला आयोजित की गई और इससे मीडिया कर्मियों को काफी लाभ मिला। 

Shimla: Three convicted for four-year-old boy’s murder

The kidnappers allegedly killed the boy apparently fearing arrest as one of them was known to the family. The case was transferred to the CID on August 14, in 2016, after widespread public protests in the town.

Three people, accused in the kidnapping and murder case of a four-year-old boy, were convicted by Districts and Sessions Judge Shimla Virender Singh on Monday. The quantum of the punishment will be pronounced on August 13.

The convicts in the case, Chander Sharma, Tajender Singh and Vikrant Bakshi, have been in judicial custody since their arrests in 2016.

Four-year-old Yug was kidnapped from his house at Ram Bazaar area on June 14, 2014, for ransom. Yug’s father Vinod Gupta had filed a missing person’s complaint at the Sadar police station within a few hours after the child went missing. Three days later, he had received a letter asking for a ransom in crores.

The boy’s body was found dumped in a water storage tank two years later — on January 2016.

The kidnappers allegedly killed the boy apparently fearing arrest as one of them was known to the family. The case was transferred to the CID on August 14, in 2016, after widespread public protests in the town.

During the investigations, it was found that the accused had tortured the minor, starved him and even forced him to drink liquor before throwing him into a water tank. They had also tied stones to his body.

The skeletal remains of the boy were recovered from the water storage tank when the Municipal Corporation staff went to clean the tank following a jaundice outbreak in the town.

The body’s discovery led to the arrest of the accused, who also confessed the crime during investigations and identified the water tank where the body was dumped. The DNA tests also confirmed the remains being that of Yug.

The accused were booked under Sections 302, 201, 342, 364 A and 120 B of the IPC

Shimla boy’s murder case: Accused starved, tortured four-year-old Yug Gupta

As anger continues to grow in Shimla over the murder of four-year-old Yug Gupta, whose skeletal remains were found from a water tank at Kelston in northern part of the town more than two years after he was kidnapped, the CID Thursday claimed that the arrested accused had confessed having subjected the child to physical and mental torture.
The child was kidnapped from Ram Bazaar on June 14, 2014, after the accused lured him with chocolates. Yug was forced to consume liquor, the police said. He then lost consciousness and was later taken to a rented house on Ramchandra Chowk.
On Thursday, the three accused led the investigating team to some of the places, including the house on Ramchandra Chowk , the water storage tank and the place from where he was kidnapped. The police have seized two cellphones from the accused, which were used to make video clips and sent threatening messages to the parents. The accused had starved the child and tortured him, the police claimed.
A senior CID official said, “Certain text messages and video clips were never sent to the parents as was planned and were deleted from the phone. We have now retrieved these. The child is seen crying and pleading with them to send him back to his father. Unable to get ransom from the families despite having sent three letters, the accused thereafter drove the boy in an unconscious state to Kelston — where he was dumped in the tank, using some stones tied with a small rope. He was unconscious but alive at the time.”
The accused made vital revelations to the police Thursday. They has also clicked some pictures of the child while holding a knife to his neck. They had planned it to send to the parents but later dropped the idea and posted only letters from Chaura Maidan post office.
“When taken to the house – where the boy kept was kept after the kidnapping, the accused Chander Sharma and Tajender Singh showed how they concealed his footwear and forced him to drink liquor,” said an official.
Ironically, even as the Shimla district police handled the investigations initially, Chander Sharma, the mastermind and a neigbhour of Yug Gupta’s father, had pretended to be a well-wisher of the family. He kept an eye on visitors at the victim’s house and also frequently visited them. “We had been zeroing in on a close family acquaintance and an insider. This clue came from the second and third letters sent to the family from ransom, where the accused had mentioned about CCTV cameras and briefs which the family used to provide to the police,” said DIG (CID) Vinod Dhawan, who is handling the investigation now.

Dhawan said the CID will file first chargesheet in two-three weeks and later a supplementary chargesheet will be filed once the investigating agency gets reports of the DNA samples and also narco-analysis report from Ahmedabad.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured the state assembly Wednesday that the case would be sent to a fast-track court for speedy trial and convictions.
Meanwhile, the Shimla Municipal Corporation has been directed to properly seal and guard all water storage tanks. “We have asked the Corporation to take measures to protect and lock all the water storage tanks and also conduct an inquiry as to whether the cleaning of the tanks were carried out on January 29, 2016 – after the jaundice outbreak or whether it was just on papers,” said Sudhir Sharma, Minister for Urban development.
Two Shimla MLAs – Suresh Bhardwaj (BJP ) and Anirudh Singh (Congress) – had questioned the municipal corporation over the ‘cleaning’ of the tanks and demanded an inquiry into how the skeletal remains of the child were found in the tank if it had been properly cleaned.
The police, however, say the cleaning staff concerned had found some bones but they assumed it that of an animal and dumped it carelessly.

The distraught family of Yug is inconsolable and crying for justice. The father is a heart patient, mother continues to take his name with the hope that the child would respond while the grandmother is dumbfound still keeping his clothes close to her heart.
The accused were taken to various spots under heavy police protection as it was feared that enraged people might attack them. The three accused booked under sections 302, 201, 342, 364 A and 120 B of IPC were remanded to five days of police custody by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on August 23. Tejinder Singh and Vikrant Bakshi are unmarried while Chander Sharma got married six months ago.

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Parwanoo-Shimla National Highway: One dead in eatery shootout, 11 UP tourists detained

One person died while two others were injured in an exchange of fire at a dhaba (eatery) at Lower Sanwara on Parwanoo-Shimla National Highway late this evening. Eleven persons, including two women, who were part of a tourist group from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, have been detained in connection with the case, said Inspector General of police (Shimla) Zahoor H Zaidi. The deceased has been identified as dhaba-owner Paramjit Singh from Sangrur in Punjab.



from https://in.news.yahoo.com/parwanoo-shimla-national-highway-one-032700418.html

Sex racket busted in Shimla

Shimla police claimed to have busted an inter-state sex racket and arrested ten persons including five women and the kingpin.
The girls arrested during raid at a local hotel following a tip off hailed from Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Punjab while out of three customers, two hailed from Mumbai and one from Nepal, police said today.
The kingpin of the gang, and the manager of the hotel were also arrested.
Additional SP, Bhajan Devi Negi who conducted the raid said that the police called some telephone numbers for "escort services" as decoy customers and established contact with a pimp, who agreed to provide girls in Shimla and booked two rooms in a hotel but they became suspicious and the deal fizzled out.
However, the second person responded positively and after negotiations agreed to deliver two girls for Rs 13,000 and the girls were delivered on the road.
The police took the girls and the pimp into custody and during preliminary investigations, the girls confessed that three girls had already been delivered in a hotel near Tara hall.
Following the clue, the police raided the hotel and arrested three girls along with three customers and the manager of the hotel and also recovered Rs 76,000 in cash.
The accused in the age group of 19-23 years have been booked under sections 4, 5 and 7 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.
ASP Bhajan Dev Negi said that it was an intricate exercise to track them down the culprits as it is an organized crime which needed logistic support and proper strategy to apprehend the culprits.
Earlier on July 8, the police arrested 31 persons including eight women for alleged involvement in flesh trade from a hotel near Shoghi on the border of Shimla-Solan district, about 15 km from here.

Source:PTI

Hackers from Brazil embezzle 23 accounts of UCO Bank

The authorities of Union Commercial (UCO) Bank today swung into action when as many as 23 account holders of the Una branch complained of the withdrawal of money from their accounts without their knowledge.
According to the bank management, Rs 3.6 lakh was withdrawn illegally during the last three days by alleged hackers, having their roots in Brazil.
Sources said the bank accounts of customers, who had an ATM debit card issued in their names, were hacked.
The bank today blocked all 2,700 ATM debit cards.
The senior manager of the information technology cell, Rajesh Kumar, reached here from Dharamsala to investigate the matter.
Last month’s video footage of the bank ATM, situated outside the branch, and details of all previous transactions of the account holders were scrutinised.
Rajesh said preliminary investigations revealed that the accounts were not hacked using the Internet, but ATM cards appeared to be digitally cloned at a remote location.
He said in all cases the money was transacted using card swipe machines for purchases in Brazil. He said the names of commercial establishments where the cards were used were now known. He said the money was transacted in three cities of Brazil.
“Electronic cloning of ATM cards is done by hacking card information, including secret passwords. The VISA Credit and Debit Card authorities in Chennai have been informed about the case,” he said.
Branch Manager Surinder Singh Agyal said the bank had decided to compensate the customers by crediting the due embezzled amounts into their bank accounts.
He said new ATM cards would be issued to the customers. The bank authorities would also register a complaint with the police in this regard.

In a first, state develops criminal tracking system

The Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), a pilot project of the Himachal Police, will go live today in five police stations of Shimla.

The system is aimed at creating a countrywide network to facilitate criminal tracking, crime prevention, law enforcement besides other functions such as traffic management, emergency responses during tragedies and improving IT-enabled tools used by the police.

“The Rs 19-crore project, which was funded by the Centre, will be formally launched by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The state has so far received Rs 698.46 lakh, out of which Rs 373.08 lakh have been spent,” DGP Sanjay Kumar said. Himachal is the first state to prepare a customised system as per the requirements of the state, he claimed.

All project activities, such as site survey and preparation, computer hardware deployment, installation at all sites, data digitisation and migration, core application software (CAS) customisation, network connectivity, capacity building and citizen portal, have been completed.

Briefing mediapersons, Kumar said the CCTNS would provide enhanced tools for investigation, crime prevention, law and order maintenance and other functions like traffic management and emergency response, improved communication, automatic back office functions, helping police staff to focused on core police functions and provide improved service delivery to public, citizens and stakeholders through access to police services in a citizen-friendly manner.

It would also help in creating a platform to share intelligence inputs with other agencies across the state which would enable improved and speedy investigations, crime prevention and tracking of criminals, suspects, accused and repeat offenders, Kumar said.

A few states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have already taken the lead in sharing information. The new network will create a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of policing from the DGP’s level to that of police stations and privacy of individual information would be maintained.

The DGP said Himachal was the first state to launch state-centric new modules like registration of migrant labourers, emergency response of control rooms and department related Vidhan Sabha questions.

The implementation of the project would help connect 177 sites, including 114 police stations in the state, 13 district headquarters, 26 sub-divisional police officers, beside three police ranges headed by IPG rank officers, state crime records bureau, CID crime branch, 14 control rooms, finger print bureau, forensic science laboratory, 16 CCTNS training centres, including state data centre and data recovery centre.

As many as 5,500 officers have already been trained and the number would increase to 9,000 by the next year and so far 1 lakh data transfer entries have been made. The Himachal Police citizen portal in CCTNS would facilitate the general public by providing various types of online services such as online complaints, traffic challans, reporting of crime against women, status of case and citizens tips, he said.

About the system

• The system is aimed at creating a countrywide network to facilitate criminal tracking, crime prevention and law enforcement
• The Rs 19-crore project was funded by the Centre
• Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have already taken the lead in sharing information

Source: Tribune News Service

Fake demi-official letter scam rocks Himachal government

The Opposition in Himachal Pradesh has accused the government of failure to check the menace of involvement of middle men in transferring government employees, and every day the police are recovering fake demi-official (D.O.) letters from some Congress leaders.

The transfer racket of government employees has taken the proportions of an “industry” because some lower-rung party leaders involved in forgery are having a clear official patronage and backing of the political big wigs, it is alleged.

The police have seized four false D.O. letters out of the 37 missing letters from the Chief Minister’s office. A young Congress worker and former NSUI leader Sanjay Guleria has accepted his involvement in stealing D.O. letter pads from the CM’s office before the police. He was making the fake letters with the help of some middle-rung officers and clerks in the CM’s office and after getting them printed in a local cyber café he used to sell it to government employees. He accepted charging Rs. 50,000 for fresh appointments and Rs. 30,000 for transferring government employees to their choicest places.

The racket came to the fore when Mr. Guleria issued the forged letter to Sanjeev Kumar, a lecturer who was seeking transfer from Rohru to Una. The Education Department officials, sensing the imitation, made a complaint and the racket was exposed.

Mr. Guleria, who allegedly collected over Rs. 3 lakh, had given about seven such D.O. notes in the Education Department alone, the police said.

The woman from Sundernagar in Mandi, who was given the appointment of Assistant Manager in the State-owned Cooperative Bank, had given Rs. 50,000 to the Congress leader. He posed as the PA of a Cabinet Minister in the Virbhadra Singh government, said the police.

The Bank, however, declined its involvement in any such case of giving appointment, but accepted that selections for this post were due within a few days from now.

The police have also arrested Senior Assistant Arjun Gautam, who works in the Chief Minister’s office, for helping Mr. Guleria frame the exact language of the fake notes. An employee of a local cyber café, Surendra Kumar, was also arrested for providing technical inputs and storing the data.

The State Civil Supplies office also spotted two fake D.O. letters, where in one person has been transferred from Jhanduta to Ghumarwin and one from Nauni to Ghumarwin. The Opposition alleged that the government was not checking this scam despite of the directions by the High Court against the ban on transfers on political grounds based on the D.O letters of Ministers and MLAs.

100 kg poppy husk recovered, one arrested

One person was today arrested for allegedly possessing 100 kg poppy husk on Himachal-Haryana border, police said.

Acting on a tip off, a team of police officials intercepted a car at Behral police barrier on Himachal-Haryana border.

During checking, 100 kg poppy husk was recovered from the car, they said.

The accused has been identified as Satish Kumar, resident of Kakra village in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Shimla school girl raped by classmate

Shimla, Oct 1 (IANS) A school girl was raped by a classmate and another man and, in a separate incident, a minor girl was raped by a cab driver in Shimla, police said Tuesday.

The 15-year-old school victim, who was missing from her house for three days, was found in a semi-conscious state near her house in Vikas Nagar neighbourhood Monday night, police said.

"The girl has been hospitalised," a police officer said.

The rapist suspect, who studied with her in her class, has been detained and his accomplice Hemraj, an adult, was arrested, police said.

Both suspects were known to the girl's family, police officer Vikram Chauhan told IANS.

In the other incident, a 16-year-old girl, who came from a village near Kufri to meet a relative in the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, was raped by a taxi driver who offered her a lift, police said.
The accused took the victim to a hotel where she was raped, police said.

Youth held for acid attack

A youth was arrested on Monday for throwing acid at a class XI girl of government senior secondary school in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district.

The medical examination of the victim was also conducted but doctors asked for three weeks to give their report.

The accused, Mukesh (20), told the police that he was in love with the girl but she always spurned him. On September 5, Mukesh proposed to the girl again but she refused and the enraged youth got an acid bottle from the school laboratory and threw it on her.

The girl told the police that Mukesh had been stalking her for the past 4-5 months. She said on September 5 he called her out and threw acid on her. A case was registered against him.

The first case of the acid attack was reported in Himachal Pradesh on July 13, 2004 when two youths had thrown acid on a woman in Shimla. The two accused were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

Himachal Pradesh government had recently issued directives to sub-divisional magistrates to keep tab on sale and storage of acid in the state.

Trouble for Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association

There was more trouble for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, as the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau found the sports body's initially registered address in Kanpur as "bogus". During a recent investigation, state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau found that the Kanpur address was bogus. A team led by assistant superintendent of police Jograj Jariyal visited the Kanpur address. "A vigilance team had visited Kanpur and found that the office associated with the HPCA is fictitious and non-existent," an investigator told IANS, on the condition of anonymity, here Tuesday.

Himachal IAS officer didn't realise he faced danger

When IAS officer Yunus Khan took on a mafia mining sand from riverbeds in Himachal Pradesh, little did he realise that there would be attempts to kill him.

Khan, 33, said the Wednesday attack on him was the third attempt on his life in six months. The attempts began after Khan intensified his drive against illegal sand and gravel miners in Nalagarh in Solan district, bordering Punjab.

So far, officials said Khan, the sub-divisional magistrate in the area for six months, has issued compoundable fines amounting to over a whopping Rs 1 crore.