Jaipur: Jhalawar police have moved court to attach properties allegedly acquired by several persons through a multi-crore cyber fraud targeting govt welfare schemes, including PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi.Superintendent of police Amit Kumar said 51 persons, including the alleged kingpin, have been arrested so far. He described the racket as one of the largest cyber frauds detected in the state, operating in an organised manner over an extended period.Police launched “Operation Shutdown” on Oct 22 last year to dismantle the network, the SP said. Investigators found that members of the racket performed defined roles, from accessing beneficiary data and manipulating records to diverting funds and collecting commissions.According to police, the accused pocketed agent commissions, and inserted their own names and those of relatives into eligibility lists despite being ineligible. The money siphoned was invested in movable and immovable assets.Deputy SP Prem Kumar, the investigating officer, said he filed an application in court seeking attachment of 22 houses, 8 plots, 2 agricultural lands, and 1 shop. The list also includes 16 cars, 18 motorcycles, 1 tractor, and a factory.Investigators said large volumes of sensitive data have been recovered, including SSO and PMK usernames and passwords of govt officials. Data sets of registered farmers were also seized from records in Rajasthan and several other states.Given the scale of the case, the probe has been transferred to the police’s special operations group (SOG), an officer said.
