Greater Noida: Four held for tampering with electronic weighing scales for financial gain

According to police, the suspects would lure weighbridge owners with lucrative offers and install custom-made electronic chips inside the weighing machines. These chips, controlled via remote, allowed operators to manipulate the weight readings—either inflating or reducing the weight as per their preference

The Gautam Budh Nagar police, along with the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team, busted a large-scale electronic weighing scale fraud operating across multiple states and arrested four individuals for manipulating weighbridges using electronic chips and remote-control devices to alter weight measurements.

The suspects in police custody on Thursday. (HT Photo)

Police said the fraud has been detected across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Kapil Kumar and Manmohan Singh, both residents of Delhi, Vinay Kumar Sharma, a resident of Sonbhadra, and Dheeraj Sharma, a resident of Gurugram.

According to police, the suspects would lure weighbridge owners with lucrative offers and install custom-made electronic chips inside the weighing machines. These chips, controlled via remote, allowed operators to manipulate the weight readings—either inflating or reducing the weight as per their preference.

The fraud led to massive financial losses for companies dealing in construction materials such as steel bars, sand, and gravel, said Saad Miyan Khan, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

“During interrogation, Kapil Kumar that he initially connected with Vinay Kumar Sharma and Dheeraj Sharma through an online marketplace. They worked together to design a chip that could alter weight readings when installed in weighbridges. Manufacturing each chip cost between ₹10,000 and ₹20,000, but they were sold for ₹5-10 lakh per unit to unscrupulous traders, including scrap and steel mafias,” said Khan.

“Vinay Kumar Sharma, an electronics engineer employed at a company in Manesar, admitted that he had advertised his services on the online marketplace, attracting clients such as Kapil and Manmohan. The chips were widely supplied to business operators looking to manipulate weighing scales for financial gain. The suspects reportedly earned ₹50 lakh through the sale of these chips, with the seized stock estimated to be worth ₹75 lakh,” said Khan.

During the raid at Salarpur underpass, police recovered 67 remote controls, 30 electronic chips, computers, laptops, soldering machines, UPS, batteries, connectors, and other technical equipment.

A case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 318 (cheating) has been registered at Dankaur police station, and further investigation is underway to identify more parties, police said.