Goa, Manali And More: Cops, Having Affair, Go On The Run With Rs 2 Crore

A sub-inspector with the Delhi Police helped solve several cyber fraud cases. However, instead of returning the money, which came from the seized bank accounts, to the victims, he hatched an elaborate plan. He stole more than Rs 2 crore and fled with his sub-inspector (SI) girlfriend. With the stolen money, they then vacationed in tourist hubs, like Goa, Manali and Kashmir. The cops - married to other people - wanted to start a new life under fake identities - a plan foiled by the Delhi Police.

SI Ankur Malik, posted at Cyber Thana, North-East district, got the seized amount of crores released by obtaining an order from the court in the name of fake complainants and rerouted he money to the bank accounts of his acquaintances.

After rerouting the money, Mr Malik - of the 2021 batch - went on a seven-day medical leave. And, never returned. Around the same time, Neha Punia - of the same batch - also went missing. She was posted at the GTB Enclave police station.

A missing report was filed for both of them.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the police official had siphoned off crores from cyber-fraud recoveries. 

Both Mr Malik and Ms Punia are married. Mr Malik's wife lives in Uttar Pradesh's Baraut, and Ms Punia's husband lives in the Rohini area of Delhi.

According to the investigation, both of them became friends during police training in 2021. And police claimed the fraud was planned there itself.

The probe team employed both technical surveillance and ground-level intelligence gathering to track the missing Sub-Inspectors. They were finally traced in Indore and arrested after four months of search.

The police have recovered gold worth more than one crore rupees, Rs 12 lakh in cash, 11 mobile phones, a laptop, three ATM cards and other items from the accused. They had bought gold with the cheated amount so that the money could be disposed of easily, police said.

Three more people - Mohammad Ilyas, Aafi alias Monu and Shadab - in whose accounts the stolen money was transferred have also been arrested.

As per the police, Ankur Malik knew that no one would claim the seized amount, so he got the money released from the court by submitting false documents and then eloped. "With this money, he also went to places like Goa, Manali and Kashmir," said the police.

"Later, after reaching Indore, he bought gold in exchange for cash so that tracking would be difficult. Their plan was to get fake IDs made and start a new life in the hilly areas of Madhya Pradesh. The police are now interrogating them to find out who else was involved in this fraud, they said.