Racket involved in duping people busted, 1 held

Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police today said it busted a racket involved in duping thousands of people of Rs 11 crore by offering them franchise under the Digital India programme.

In a statement issued here, the UP STF said some people were operating a fake website 'www.egramdigital.co.in' and clamied to provide utility services to support Centre's Digital Indian programme.

The mastermind of the gang and director of the company Sudhanshu Shukla has been arrested, it said, adding that a mobile phone and documents related to the fake website have been seized from him.

An STF spokesperson said a number of people had complained to the Prime Minister's Office alleging that some people were running a fake website were duping people in the name of various programmes under Digital India.

Acting on the complaint, the Union Electronics and Information Technology ministry had directed the UP STF to take necessary action.

"During the probe, it was revealed that some people had made a gang and also created a fake website, and they also uploaded the voice message of the prime minister and logo of Digital India without prior permission.

"The website was hosted on a web server in Switzerland, in which the owner's address was not provided, and a contact number of foreign country was given. A number of hyperlinks of various government departments were also made available on the website, so that the people may consider it as real," the spokesman said.

He said during the probe it was revealed that the gang had duped many people by offering them of franchise under the Digital India programme.

"The gang members used to keep their addresses and mobile numbers a secret, and the SIM cards which were being used by them were procured using fake identity documents. The mastermind of the gang Shukla, a resident of Pratapgarh district, was today arrested from Lucknow, and information about other gang members is being ascertained from him," the spokesman said.