CHANDIGARH, March 3: The Punjab Police’s State Cyber Crime Division is cracking down against Cyber crime. They followed the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. They have arrested the prime accused. The accused was running a fake website impersonating the official website of the Punjab Government’s Mining Department. The website generated counterfeit receipts and forms. On Monday, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav stated that it facilitated illegal mining. He said it helped the movement of vehicles involved.

Accused is identified as Gaurav Kumar of Kharar

The accused is identified as Gaurav Kumar of Kharar in SAS Nagar. He has created the exact replica of the original official website of Mining Department ‘minesgeologypunjab.gov.in‘. This act resulted in impersonating it as, ‘minesgeologypunjab.in‘. The accused had created a fake website in November, 2024, which remained operational till January, 2025. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the fake slips even consisted of a Bar/QR Scanner code. The code was similar to the one on the official mining website. This similarity helped the vehicles in passing all security checks. It aimed to curb illegal mining. Initial investigation revealed that the accused generated over 2000 fake mining receipts. He worked in connivance with a person from Ferozepur. This caused an estimated loss of around Rs 40-50 Lakhs to the Punjab Government exchequer, he said.

Website Backup Recovered, Revealing Fake Receipts and Illegal Mining Data

The DGP said that the website backup has been recovered. It includes data containing details of fake receipts, images of vehicles, and mining material sources and destinations. The computer systems used in the offence are also part of the recovered data. Further investigation is underway to uncover the full nexus, he added. Sharing more details, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Cybercrime Division V Neeraja provided information on the investigation. The Chief Engineer of the Mining Department filed a complaint, alleging that someone compromised the official website and used a fake website to facilitate illegal mining activities.

One Arrested, Raids Underway to Nab Another

The investigation revealed that someone registered and hosted the fake website on GoDaddy. GoDaddy is a US-based domain provider, she said. She also added that the Cybercrime officials worked in coordination with GoDaddy’s legal authorities. Various Internet Service Providers helped trace the website’s creation to accused Gaurav Kumar. She said that police teams led by DSP Cybercrime Simranjit Singh obtained the information regarding IP Addresses and mobile numbers of the accused. They conducted raids at different places, leading to the arrest of accused Gaurav Kumar. Police teams have also identified the other accused person involved in this scam and raids are being conducted to nab him, she added.

Fake Mining Forms of Navyug Firm Detected, FIR Registered

ADGP V Neeraja further revealed that the information from the recovered records revealed that most of the fake mining forms generated belong to Navyug firm based in Ludhiana. In this regard, a case FIR no. 2 dated 11/2/2025 has been registered. It falls under sections 318(4), 336(3), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Additionally, it includes sections 66C, 66D, and 66 of the IT Act at Police Station State Cyber Crime, Punjab.