Cyber fraud racket: Councillor’s forged seal, fake Aadhaar cards used to open ac/s; 5 held in Lko

“The gang allegedly lured people from rural areas to Lucknow with promises of money, arranged rented accommodation for them and used forged documents to open bank accounts in their names. The accounts were then used to receive money generated through cybercrime,” SHO Gajendra Kumar Rai said.

With the arrest of five men, Ashiana police claimed to have busted a suspected racket that allegedly used a councillor’s forged seal, fabricated address proofs and a network of bank accounts to route money from cyber frauds.

The accused were arrested near Devi Kheda crossing around 8:30 pm on Tuesday. (For representation)

According to police, the five accused were arrested near Devi Kheda crossing around 8:30 pm on Tuesday. They were identified as Shrikant Verma, 22, of Gonda; Akash Maurya, 20, of Basti; Ayush Pratap Singh, 24, of Gonda; Rajnish Verma alias Prabhakar, 25, of Balrampur; and Deepak Singh Rathore, 27, of Kanpur.

“The gang allegedly lured people from rural areas to Lucknow with promises of money, arranged rented accommodation for them and used forged documents to open bank accounts in their names. The accounts were then used to receive money generated through cybercrime,” SHO Gajendra Kumar Rai said.

According to police, the arrests followed a complaint by Shivam Kumar, 23, who alleged that Rajnish Verma alias Prabhakar and Shrikant Verma had persuaded him to obtain an Aadhaar card with a false address and open six bank accounts.

Questioning led investigators to a person identified as Kartik, suspected to be the racket’s mastermind. Police suspect the gang used forged certificates prepared with a purportedly fake seal and letterhead bearing the name of ward councillor Mamta Rawat to obtain identity documents, according to an official release issued by police.

“The modus operandi involved opening 8-10 bank accounts in the name of each targeted person. The accused would then retain the associated ATM cards, cheque books, mobile numbers and other banking documents, enabling them to operate the accounts themselves and receive proceeds of cyber fraud,” the SHO said.

Police seized seven mobile phones, 13 ATM cards belonging to different banks, a forged Aadhaar card, two passbooks, a cheque book, eight printouts, ₹4,450 in cash and the purportedly forged seal. A motorcycle was also seized under the Motor Vehicles Act.

According to police records cited in the release, Shrikant Verma was booked in a cybercrime case in Basti in 2025, while Akash Maurya was named in another criminal case registered in Gonda district the same year.

An FIR was registered at Ashiana police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act and the Motor Vehicles Act.