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Delhi Police unearth online child adoption fraud, arrests two from UP
Delhi Police unearth online child adoption fraud, arrests two from UP
New Delhi, The Delhi Police has busted a cyber fraud racket that allegedly duped people on the pretext of arranging child adoptions and arrested two men from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, an officer said on Monday.
The arrests were made after a complaint was lodged by a 30-year-old woman from Delhi's Burari, who was allegedly cheated of ₹1.37 lakh while trying to adopt a child, police said.
According to the police, the woman had searched online for child adoption services and contacted a mobile number where the caller identified himself as Sachin and claimed to represent an organisation facilitating legal adoptions.
"The accused assured her that a baby boy would be available for adoption and collected money in phases, including registration, booking and transportation charges. To make the process appear genuine, he even sent forged NGO receipts, fabricated ultrasound reports and other fake documents," a senior police officer told PTI.
Police said the woman became suspicious after the accused repeatedly avoided her requests to meet the biological mother and later stopped responding to her calls after receiving the money.
"She then lodged a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, following which an e-FIR was registered at the cyber police station in north district," the officer said.
During the investigation, police analysed account details, IP logs, call detail records, IMEI data and financial transactions. Police also examined digital trails from various online platforms and tracked nearly 100 mobile numbers before tracing the suspects to Bareilly.
"After technical surveillance, coordinated raids were conducted on July 31, leading to the arrest of Sachin and his alleged associate Rakesh ," the police officer said.
During interrogation, Sachin disclosed that Kumar, a physiotherapist by profession, supplied forged NGO receipts, fake ultrasound reports and other fabricated medical documents that were used to convince victims that the adoption process was genuine.
Mobile phones, SIM cards, bank documents, debit cards, PAN cards and 14 stamps of hospitals and doctors were recovered from the accused. The seized digital devices and documents are being analysed to identify additional victims and other cyber fraud cases linked to the racket.
According to the police, the accused advertised online claiming they could facilitate legal child adoptions and collected money under various fabricated heads. Once payments were received, they allegedly switched off their phones and disappeared.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the racket and trace additional victims, police said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
