Delhi Police arrests 2 for stealing Aadhaar data through fake health camps

NEW DELHI Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit arrested two men from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh for organising fake health camps to collect villagers’ Aadhaar and biometric details for illegal SIM activation and supplying e-SIMs for suspected use in cybercrime.

The accused are suspected to have activated more than 3,000 SIMs over the past year, with the numbers linked to more than 20 complaints of cybercrime involving an alleged fraud of around ₹2.64 crore, the police said on Thursday. The accused, identified as Jitendra Singh, 29, and Brajesh Kumar, 21, were arrested during a raid in the intervening night of October 20 and 21 in Mathura and brought to Delhi, said an officer.

Offer of cheap medicines The officer added that the accused offered medicines at subsidised rates at the fake health camps to induce people to share their Aadhaar and other biometric details. These details were misused to obtain SIM cards, which were either converted into e-SIMs or sold via online platforms.

The investigation stems from a digital arrest case in which the complainant, Shriniwas, was contacted through WhatsApp and threatened with legal action. He was subjected to a digital arrest for around two weeks and allegedly coerced into transferring ₹1.64 crore through six RTGS transactions to six different bank accounts, the police said.