By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 7 Apr: Acting on the directions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Rudraprayag district police have intensified their campaign against cyber fraudsters ahead of the forthcoming Char Dham Yatra, with particular focus on the Kedarnath pilgrimage. In the past two months, police have taken action against 265 fraudulent websites, bank accounts, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts and mobile numbers that were found duping devotees in the name of helicopter ticket bookings.
As has been happening every year in respect of the Char Dham Yatra, the cyber criminals have become active well before the start of the pilgrimage season this year too. They have created fake websites and social media accounts to lure unsuspecting pilgrims with attractive offers for helicopter services. Many devotees fell prey to these schemes and lost their savings even this year, despite the government clarifying and publicising that only IRTC has been authorised to make chopper bookings for Kedarnath and Char Dham Yatra. It may be reiterated here that the pilgrims wishing to book helicopter services to Kedarnath and Char Dham sites can only book their tickets through the IRTC portal by visiting the site heliyatra.irctc.co.in.
In this respect, the Chief Minister has taken serious note of the fake sites and has instructed the Police to take action against fake sites. Responding to the CM’s instructions, Police Superintendent, Rudraprayag, Niharika Tomar has constituted a dedicated ‘Cyber Fraud Combat Force’ which swiftly dismantled the network of fraudsters operating across digital platforms.
The crackdown has already led to the removal of 106 out of 111 identified Facebook pages, while 16 Instagram accounts have been reported for suspicious activity and remain under investigation. Out of 110 mobile numbers used in the fraud, 55 have been blocked and the process of blocking the rest is underway. The telecom companies and WhatsApp have been provided with details of these numbers for further action. In addition, six bank accounts linked to the fraud have also been traced, with one account already frozen and the others under process. Twenty-two suspicious websites claiming to provide helicopter tickets have also been identified and reported to domain registrars for closure.
SP Niharika Tomar has appealed to devotees to remain vigilant and clarified that the only authorised portal for helicopter ticket booking for the Kedarnath Yatra is the IRCTC HeliYatra portal. She urged the pilgrims not to trust any other links, websites or social media advertisements. She emphasised that Rudraprayag police are working under a zero-tolerance policy against cybercrime and are keeping constant watch on digital platforms. In case of any cyber fraud, people should immediately contact the 1930 helpline number.
The police have further appealed to the public to avoid clicking on unknown links and to rely only on authorised channels for bookings. These measures, they stressed, are essential to ensure that pilgrims enjoy a safe and smooth Char Dham Yatra experience without falling victim to online fraud.
