The Kochi City Cyber Police have arrested two members of a nationwide fraud gang from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, in a high-risk operation linked to a massive online scam involving the Union Ministry of Road Transport’s Parivahan application. The team, led by Inspector Shameer Khan, travelled to Varanasi, stayed there for several days, and tracked the accused before apprehending them. According to officials, the operation was particularly challenging due to the political and bureaucratic influence of the accused, which initially led to a lack of cooperation from the local police.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Athul Kumar Singh (32) and Maneesh Yadav (24), both natives of Varanasi. “We couldn’t arrest them easily because of their local clout,” said one of the officers involved in the operation. “After identifying their whereabouts, we waited for them to leave their village and captured them from outside the locality to avoid potential backlash from their acquaintances.” 

A third accused, a 16-year-old boy and a relative of Maneesh Yadav, who allegedly developed the fake application used in the fraud, has also been named in the case. Though his arrest is yet to be formally recorded, he has been served a notice and asked to appear for questioning when summoned.

None of the three accused are working professionals, and the police confirmed that they had no prior criminal records apart from minor traffic violations. However, officials believe the group has been involved in several other crimes that had gone undetected until now. “This is the first time police have managed to reach them,” a team member noted, adding that these are the first arrests made in connection with the Parivahan cyber fraud anywhere in India.

The fraudsters reportedly operated across several states and had duped people of lakhs of rupees by sending fake APK files via WhatsApp, under the guise of paying pending vehicle fines. In Kerala alone, around 570 cases related to this scam have already been registered. According to the investigators, the gang collected vehicle details using a Telegram bot and then targeted victims with personalised scam messages.

"Once the victims downloaded and opened the malicious APK files, their bank details were accessed and exploited. These compromised accounts were then used to commit further offences, creating a chain of fraud that was difficult to trace," said officials.

An APK file (Android Package Kit) is the file format used to distribute and install apps on Android devices. Like a 'ZIP file or  '.exe file' in Windows, it is essentially a compressed archive that contains all the necessary components, such as code, resources, and a manifest file, for an app to function on your phones and tablets.

“The scam has been active for at least the last six months,” said a police officer. “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 breakthrough came after an Ernakulam resident filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), stating that ₹85,000 was siphoned off through a fake Parivahan link. Based on this complaint, the Kochi Cyber Police registered an FIR and began a digital investigation that eventually led them to other complaints and finally to the culprits in Varanasi.

During the investigation, the police recovered data of over 2,700 vehicles - registered in Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal - from the accused’s phones. 

However, the Kerala Police are yet to confirm whether the same gang is responsible for all other Parivahan-related fraud cases reported across the country. The police are now travelling back to Kerala with the accused and are expected to arrive in Kochi by Monday. 

The Parivahan application, also known as Parivahan Sewa, is a digital platform developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It offers a wide range of online services related to vehicles and driving licenses, aiming to simplify procedures, reduce paperwork, and ensure easy access to essential transport-related information. Users can check details such as traffic challans, vehicle registration, insurance and fitness validity, as well as locate nearby RTOs and traffic offices.