Haryana Police arrest man for posing as Army officer, duping people

The Pratibimb portal, launched last year, has details of SIM and IMEI numbers of suspected fraudsters, plotted in real time.

A team led by Inspector Vimal, in charge of Nuh Cyber Police Station, caught Zahid near ITI Maroda. After a search, three smartphones, six SIM cards, fake social media profiles, counterfeit Army photos, fraudulent QR code UPI IDs, and evidence of suspicious transactions via digital payment apps were found, the police said.

Interrogations revealed that Zahid allegedly used WhatsApp, posing as an Army officer with fake profiles, to deceive victims. A case has been registered against him, and the police are investigating whether he operated alone or with others.

“So far, we have not found any involvement from other people, but the investigation is ongoing. He is currently in judicial custody. We will have to see if there are other complaints across states,” Vimal said. “Online fraud cases like these will face continuous action through technical surveillance,” he added.

A Nuh police spokesperson said that the Pratibimb portal has proved effective in helping them nab criminals, and that they have zero tolerance for such fraud cases.

Last March, the district police had arrested around 30 people in cybercrime cases with the help of the Pratibimb portal, and that operation resulted in the seizure of 50 mobile phones and 90 fake SIM cards.

During the special operation conducted over two days, the police had raided various locations. The accused had engaged in online fraud by using fake documents to purchase online items, creating fake social media profiles, fake bank accounts, sextortion, enticing people with lucrative ads for purchasing animals, and advertisements for making pencils, among other methods.