The arrest of the 16-year-old is yet to be formally recorded; he has been served a notice and asked to appear for questioning when summoned.
Published Jul 21, 2025 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2025 | 11:00 AM
Cybercrime. Representative Image. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Kochi City Cyber Police uncovered a 16-year-old mastermind behind a nationwide online fraud involving a fake Parivahan app. Two men were arrested in Varanasi for running the operation.
The Kochi City Cyber Police in Kerala uncovered a 16-year-old mastermind behind a nationwide online fraud involving a fake Parivahan app of the Union Ministry of Road Transport. They also arrested two other men from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for running the operation.
The accused, Atul Kumar Singh (32) and Manish Yadav (24), both from UP, tricked people into downloading fake APK files via WhatsApp, claiming it was for paying vehicle fines.
Shockingly, a 16-year-old relative of Manish was found to be the mastermind behind creating the fake app. His arrest is yet to be formally recorded; he has been served a notice and asked to appear for questioning when summoned.
The scam came to light after an Ernakulam resident lost ₹85,000 through the fake Parivahan link and filed a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Acting swiftly, a team led by Inspector Shameer Khan and officers Arun, Ajith Raj, Nikhil George, Alfit Andrews, and Sharafuddin traced the suspects using digital forensics.
The officers stayed in Varanasi for several days, tracking the suspects before making the arrest. Police said the accused were uncooperative due to their political and bureaucratic influence, which made it difficult to execute the arrest.
During the probe, police discovered data of over 2,700 vehicles from Kerala and four other states on the accused’s devices. Investigators revealed that the accused used similar fake APKs for KYC scams and adult chat apps, many of which went unreported due to victim hesitation.
“The scam has been active for at least the last six months,” a police officer told the media. “In many cases, the gang used data stolen from one victim to target the next. No agency in India had managed to trace them so far because they used multiple sophisticated techniques to mask their identity and avoid detection.”
The police urged the public to report such cyber crimes immediately via 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)
