Amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police’s State Cyber Crime Division has busted an inter-state racket involved in duping and extorting money from unsuspecting victims by impersonating as women on the social media with the arrest of three persons, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as brothers Abhishek Bhargav, Aakash Bhargav alias Aman, and Lucky Bhargav, trio native of Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and presently residing in Sector 70, SAS Nagar (Mohali). Police teams have effected a huge recovery of cash amounting to ₹3.49 lakhs, $500 American Dollars, 29 mobile phones, one laptop, one dongle, one tablet, and 38 empty boxes of mobile phones from their possession.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the accused created fake profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp, impersonating as women, to contact their victims. “The accused used voice-changing software to pose as women and gain the trust of their targets, particularly women.
They would then extort money by threatening to circulate AI-generated objectionable videos of the victims on social media," he said. Sharing details of the operation, Special Director General of Police (Special DGP) Cyber Crime V Neeraja said that the case was registered following a complaint by a victim's father.
The victim was cheated of ₹3.10 lakhs between 2023 and 2025, when she was residing in Canada. The Special DGP said that the investigation led by SHO State Cyber Crime Police Station Amandeep Singh under the supervision of SP Jaspinder Singh revealed that the kingpin, Aakash Bhargav, had devised this modus operandi two years ago under which they were targeting innocent people using fake social media profiles and cheating them by impersonating as fake religious gurus or astrologers.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they have earned almost ₹40 lakh using this method, she said. She said that investigation is in progress to ascertain the involvement of other persons and additional victims who may have fallen prey to such cyber frauds.
In this regard, a case FIR No. 14 dated 08.08.2025 was registered under sections 308(2) and 61(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 67 of the IT Act at Police Station State Cyber Crime, Mohali.
Special DGP V Neeraja advised that social media users, especially women, should beware of soothsayers and other such persons who offer solace services on the social media platforms. She said that personal details and information should not be shared on the social media platforms at any cost as these can be misused.
In case anyone threatens to misuse the information shared including Photographs and videos the victim is not to panic and advised to call the cyber helpline number 1930 immediately or register an online complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. At no cost should money be transferred to any one on the social media.
However, if the money to such an account has been transferred it should be immediately reported to 1930 so that the transfer can be aborted for lien marking in the suspect bank account.