Delhi Police have arrested three men involved in stealing a mobile phone from a bus commuter and draining over Rs 7 lakh from his bank accounts using a forged UPI ID, officials said on Thursday.
The accused — Aman (25) and Karthikay (25) from Mohan Garden, and Prince Yadav (20) from Nangloi — allegedly spent the stolen money on trips to Dehradun, Haridwar, and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
The case was registered at Najafgarh police station on May 29 after the victim reported that his phone was stolen inside a bus near Delhi Gate on May 24. A few days later, he discovered Rs 7.20 lakh had been withdrawn fraudulently from three of his bank accounts.
DCP Ankit Singh (Dwarka) said investigations revealed that the transactions mostly occurred in Uttarakhand. The UPI transactions were traced to a mobile number registered in the name of Shyam Kumar, who claimed he acted under the instructions of a man named Shashank in Uttarakhand.
Police arrested Karthikay, who revealed that Aman needed money while in Uttarakhand and had facilitated the fraudulent transactions. Subsequently, Aman and Prince Yadav were also taken into custody.
The trio confessed that on May 24, along with three others—Danny, Ritik, and Sumit (still absconding)—they stole the victim’s phone near Delhi Gate. They used a copy of the victim’s Aadhaar card stored in the phone to create a fake UPI ID linked to the victim’s bank accounts, enabling them to siphon off the money.
The investigation continues, with police working to apprehend the remaining suspects.
