Man defrauds UP residents with e-FIRs, held from MP

He purportedly revealed that he started carrying out this crime for last one year after learning how to download others’ e-FIRS from a neighbour

Noida: A 24-year-old Madhya Pradesh-based man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly duping Uttar Pradesh residents of nearly ₹2 lakh by downloading electronic-first information reports (e-FIRs) from a UPCOP Application and pretending to help them, police officers said on Friday, adding that he was nabbed as he tried to dupe a Noida resident on Wednesday.

Suspect Yadav thought police would not investigate the case, as he duped others of such a small amount, and even engaged six to seven neighbour villagers on a commission. (HT Photo)

The UPCOP App offers people a variety of services including first information report (FIR) registration, track FIR, lost item registration, and road accident details among others.

“The suspect was identified as Dhirendra Yadav, 24, a resident of Bari village in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh (MP). He is a Class 9 dropout,” said Avdhesh Singh, station house officer (SHO), Sector 63, Noida.

During police questioning, he purportedly revealed that he started carrying out this crime for the last one year after learning how to download others’ e-FIRS from a neighbour.

“On Tuesday, Pradeep Kumar, 30, a resident of Sector 63, lodged an assault case against a man. Next day, he received a call from an unidentified number and the caller introduced himself as a cyber cell official from the SP (superintendent of police) office,” Singh said.

The caller allegedly demanded ₹3,000 from Kumar for a speedy investigation, and issued an arrest warrant against the accused who had assaulted Kumar. “When Kumar refused to pay, he allegedly hurled abuses at him and threatened that his case would not be heard and action would not be taken against the accused,” said Singh, adding that an audio of their conversation went viral on social media platforms, maligning police image in public.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, a case under sections 318 (cheating), 308 (extortion), 352 (intentional insult), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 204 (personating a public servant) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Sector 63 police station on Wednesday, and a team was formed to nab the suspect.

“Based on the mobile number location, a team arrested Yadav from his native town, Bari, on Thursday,” said Shakti Mohan Avasthy, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Central Noida, adding that the phone’s location was found in an isolated place around 40 km away from his home.

With the help of locals, police tracked Yadav and he was brought to Noida on Friday.

Explaining Yadav’s modus operandi, the DCP said, “Yadav used to download e-FIRs of cases like assault, theft, and kidnapping in which punishment is less than seven years. Posing as a senior police officer, he would then dupe people for ₹1,000 to 5,000 (for helping them). He holds excellent knowledge of the Indian Penal Code and the Bharartiya Nyaya Sanhita sections.”

According to SHO Singh, Yadav thought police would not investigate the case, as he duped others of such a small amount, and even engaged six to seven neighbour villagers on a commission.

“They were also paying 20 per cent commission to the bank account holder, who gave them the QR scanner to receive money,” said SHO Singh, adding that Yadav revealed that one of his neighbours taught him the process around a year ago.

Since then, he duped UP residents to the tune of around ₹2 lakh. A case was also registered against the hired men at the Phase 2 police station for taking ₹1,000 (as commission) per case. Further investigation is underway to nab his other gang members, said police.