Rs 2,000 crore swindled in crypto scams in Himachal in last 3 years: CM Sukhu

Sukhu presented the data in the assembly while responding to questions from Congress’s Kewal Singh Pathania.

Pathania sought details of how many cases of cryptocurrency frauds were registered, how many people were arrested and how much money was lost in these frauds in the last three years.

Replying to it, the CM said, “As many as 89 people were arrested and multiple chargesheets were filed against them. They were arrested in connection with 20 FIRs being probed by Special Investigation Teams.”

Sources said the Rs 2,000-crore cryptocurrency scam included Rs 1,740-crore bitcoin scam reported last year wherein, according to the police, around one lakh people in Himachal Pradesh were swindled through various websites and crypto coins by luring them with promises of double returns. The mastermind of the scam, Subhash Sharma, is still absconding. The police believed that he was hiding in Dubai and later shifted his location. His close associate, Milan Garg, was arrested in Kolkata on July 17. Over 400 complaints related to one scam were received from Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, and Kangra districts.

Sources said in order to address the rising cybercrimes in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Police has decided to establish Integrated Cyber Extended (ICE) Units in nine districts bereft of cyber police stations. At present, there are only three cyber cell police stations — in Mandi, Kangra, and Shimla. Complaints related to cybercrimes from nine districts, including Lahaul and Spiti, Una, Bilaspur, Sirmaur, Chamba, Kullu, Hamirpur, Solan, and Kinnaur, are forwarded to these three police stations for investigation.

Sources said, “The decision to set up ICE Units was made in response to a sudden surge in cybercrimes over the last five years. While between 2019 and 2022, the three police stations received an average of 11 cybercrime complaints per day, this number rose to 44 in 2024. Approximately 248 calls are received daily on the centralised 1093 cyber helpline in Himachal Pradesh. Despite their best efforts, the three dedicated cyber cell police stations are unable to handle all the complaints.”

Sources added, “As per the breakup of the total complaints received every day, 72% of them are related to financial frauds, 19% are connected to social media frauds, while 9 per cent complaints are inquiries regarding what actions to take in case of phone hacking or how to file a cyber complaint.”

On March 27, the Himachal Pradesh High Court in Shimla had issued instructions to various courts in the state, directing them not to order FIR registration in cases where applicants are seeking recovery of funds lost in cyber fraud cases. These instructions were issued following the state police’s findings that lodging an FIR in each complaint would not be feasible.