UP STF arrests 4 for duping people in name of PMAY

Four men, including government employees, have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping people in the name of the PM AWAS Yojana housing scheme. The accused posed as government employees and told people that funds had been released for the scheme, asking them to make payments through mobile banking applications. The group extracted amounts ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 from the victims. One of the accused had previously been jailed for financial fraud.

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday arrested four men for allegedly duping people in the name of PM AWAS Yojana, a central housing scheme.

UP STF arrests 4 for duping people in name of PMAY (Pic for representation)

Police said the accused were government employees and were conning people for long.

The STF said a joint team of Gorakhpur and Lucknow unit busted the gang and arrested four persons --Aniruddh Singh, Ajit Singh, Dilip Singh of Sachendi and Santosh Singh of Chaubeypur, from Bhimsen in Kanpur suburbs.

“The STF teams were keeping tab on the activities of this group for quite some time, and arrested the four as they were about to commit another crime,” said Dharmesh Shahi, deputy SP, Gorakhpur unit.

The accused told the police that they used to call people randomly posing as government employees and tell them that the government had released funds to make the house under PM housing scheme.

Police said that the people were asked to pay a certain amount through mobile banking applications before the release of their amount.

They said that one of the accused Santosh Singh was jailed in 2021 and 2022 for financial fraud. The group used to extract ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 from the people.