Chandigarh: Punjab police’s Cyber Crime Division on Monday claimed to have arrested the prime accused running a fake website impersonating the official website of the Punjab government’s Mining Department to generate counterfeit receipts and forms, facilitating the movement of vehicles involved in illegal mining.
Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, said that the accused, identified as Gaurav Kumar of Kharar in SAS Nagar, has created the exact replica of the original official website of Mining Department ‘minesgeologypunjab.gov.in’, thereby 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 on the lines of the official mining website which helped the vehicles in passing all security checks to curb illegal mining. Initial investigation revealed that the accused, in connivance with a person from Ferozepur, generated over 2,000 fake mining receipts causing an estimated loss of around Rs 40-50 Lakhs to the Punjab Government exchequer, he said.
The DGP said that the website backup, along with data containing details of fake receipts, images of vehicles, mining material sources and destinations, and the computer systems used in the offence, has been recovered. Further investigation is underway to uncover the full nexus, he added.
