By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 28 Mar: The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a man who was absconding for six years in a fake call centre case. He allegedly tricked people in India and abroad into installing a computer application under the pretence of providing Microsoft Corporation’s services. Then he created problems in the victims’ computers and forced them to take paid services for fixing these issues. His partners had already been arrested earlier by the police. He was running a pub in Goa and was arrested from Sector 18, Noida, police said.
According to the STF, in 2019, Microsoft Corporation’s legal advisor, Bhupinder Singh Bindra filed a complaint against Praveen Kumar and his partners, Ranjan Kumar and Mayank Bansal. They were running a call centre under the name of Microsoft Corporation. They tricked people into installing fake computer applications and later created problems in their computers. Then, they would offer to fix the issues in exchange for money. They also gained remote access to computers, stole data, and transmitted viruses.
A case was registered at Patel Nagar Police Station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act. The police said that two accused, Ranjan Kumar and Mayank Bansal, were arrested at that time. However, Praveen Kumar managed to escape and remained absconding for six years. The police had also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for his arrest.
Senior Superintendent of Police Navneet Singh further stated that, upon receiving orders to arrest this criminal, the STF team gathered information and found that the absconding accused was running a restaurant/pub named “Sol” in Goa. He occasionally visited Noida and Delhi to meet his business partners. They kept track of his movements for the last two to three months. On 27 March 2025, they received information that Praveen Kumar had arrived in Noida from Goa. The team acted swiftly and arrested him. The team brought him to Dehradun and handed him over to Patel Nagar police. The arrest was made under the leadership of Inspector Yashpal Singh Bisht and a team of nine other officers.
