New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) With the arrest of two criminals here, the Delhi Police has uncovered a cross-border money laundering network that funnelled proceeds of fraud to Pakistan-based handlers through the cryptocurrency channel, an official said on Wednesday.
Both the men, associated with the Gogi-Sonu Kharkhari gang, were caught from Samaypur Badli area on October 2, he said.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outernorth) Hareshwar Swami, one of the arrested men, Ritik alias Bomb (22), is designated ‘bad character’ at the Kapashera police station. He was not only involved in multiple crimes including robbery and culpable homicide but was also allegedly a mediator facilitating cryptocurrency-based financial transactions with Pakistani nationals.
The second accused arrested has been identified as Chandan (19), a history-sheeter.
“Ritik was in touch with Pakistani nationals through social media using foreign numbers. He was found facilitating cryptocurrency transactions to Pakistani handlers using a mobile application,” he said.
Swami said that during interrogation, Ritik revealed that he has been in contact with six Pakistani nationals for nearly four months. These handlers allegedly ran fake loan applications and other cyber scams targeting Indian victims.
Ritik procured UPI IDs from Indian crypto traders — identified as Rahul Gujjar, Yash and Akash — and sent them to Pakistani handlers. Once victims made payments to these UPI IDs through fake loan apps, the Pakistani handlers sent screenshots of the transaction to Ritik. He then purchased cryptocurrency for an equivalent amount and sent it to wallets managed by the Pakistani nationals, after taking his cut.
“Ritik acted as a mediator in converting the proceeds of fraud into cryptocurrency, mainly USDT (Tether),” said the DCP.
The funds deposited to these Indian UPI accounts were primarily proceeds from the fake loan apps, or extortion schemes where people were coerced into paying under threats of data leaks.
The DCP said that Ritik was a close aide of Sonu Kharkhari, a key figure in Delhi’s organised crime network and a known associate of slain gangster Rajesh Bharti. Bharti led the ‘Kranti Gang’ before being killed in a 2018 encounter with Delhi Police’s Special Cell.
Police said Ritik had been associated with Kranti Gang since his juvenile years and after Bharti’s death, continued his criminal activities under Kharkhari’s network.
Ritik has a long history of violent crimes, including six previous cases of robbery, culpable homicide and Arms Act violations. He was released from jail in March this year.
His associate Chandan was previously involved in two robbery and arms cases. He was released from jail in May 2024 and had rejoined Ritik to provide manpower and logistics support to the gang.
The arrests were made on October 2, when a police team stopped a car without front number plate at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in Samaypur Badli. The driver sped away, prompting the police to chase. When intercepted, three men fled the vehicle, while three others — identified as Ritik, Chandan and Rohit — were apprehended.
A search led to the recovery of a pistol with two live cartridges from Ritik and a country-made pistol with one cartridge from Chandan.
A forensic analysis of Ritik’s mobile phone revealed six active Pakistani numbers and several chat exchanges about cryptocurrency trades, screenshots of transactions, UPI transfers and payment proofs.
During questioning, Ritik also revealed that he received regular crypto orders from handlers based in Lahore and Karachi. He admitted that each deal earned him 5 per cent commission, while Indian crypto traders involved in the exchange charged another 3 to 4 per cent margin.
Preliminary scrutiny suggests that several UPI accounts Ritik provided were linked to mule identities used by other cyber crime groups operating from Gurugram and Noida.
“Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell is coordinating with financial intelligence units and the Enforcement Directorate to trace further linkages,” said the DCP. PTI BM BM RUK RUK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.