The divine and grand beginning of Prayagraj Mahakumbh has started. Crores of people have taken a holy dip in the first two royal baths. There is a huge influx of devotees from all over the country and the world reaching Prayagraj, hence thugs have also become active in it. In the name of booking facilities in Mahakumbh, swindlers are making money with people’s hard-earned money. The police are warning people, yet the thugs are not desisting. They are adopting new tricks, one of them is fraud in the name of helicopter booking.
In fact, during the Maha Kumbh Mela, the facility of aerial viewing of Prayagraj by helicopter is also available. For this, the rate has been fixed at only Rs 1296 per person. Since there is a huge crowd of people availing the service, now frauds are taking place in the name of helicopter booking. In the same series, Pandit Vishnu Prasad Upadhyay, the astrologer of the famous temple of Assam, Kanakdhara Lakshmi Temple, was also cheated. Rs 5184 were defrauded from him in the name of Mahakumbh darshan by helicopter in Prayagraj.
Giving details of the fraud, the astrologer said that he was in his camp located in Sector-24 of the Kumbh Mela area. Where a person came, he said that Kumbh can be seen by helicopter. After this he gave the number of a person named Ankit Verma from his network. When that number was contacted through chat, he asked for their documents. After this the swindler asked him to send the payment online. He sent Rs 5184 to the number given by him for booking of 2 people. This account number was in the name of Rajib Malla.
After this the thug asked them to wait. The swindler had taken him into confidence by luring him with sweet talks, so he had no doubt about it, but after some time, the swindler’s number started getting switched off, after which he contacted the police. Only then did he come to know about the fraud that had happened to him. He has also appealed to the people to be cautious.
Prayagraj #KumbhMela2025 The swindler was showing off his talent and cheated an astrologer in the name of helicopter booking. More than Rs 5100 was defrauded, how the fraud happened, listen to the victim astrologer Pandit Vishnu Prasad Upadhyay himself..@Uppolice @MahaaKumbh @prayagraj_pol @myogiadityanath pic.twitter.com/9BNGb2VjfE
— Shravan Shukla (@epatrakaar) January 15, 2025
In this matter, a complaint has also been lodged with the police on behalf of the victim. The complaint has been lodged online, on which the police is taking action. However, when OpIndia investigated this matter, some facts came to light.
1- The fraudsters are using the name of a company named Pawan Hans in the fraud.
2- Taking payments on private numbers-UPI ID.
3- After taking the payment, they are disappearing by blocking the victims of fraud.
In the Astrologer Pandit Vishnu Prasad Upadhyay fraud case, two numbers of the fraudsters 7042796908 and 8336871326 were provided by the victim on behalf of the victim. WhatsApp calls were being made on the numbers shared by him. When OpIndia contacted the thug, he responded in a very calm voice. When the swindler was asked about the helicopter booking, he identified himself as being associated with Pawan Hans Private Limited.
When asked about the booking money, the swindler told the government rate i.e. Rs 1296 per person and asked to send the money online for booking. However, when we asked him to take money from the astrologer and instead of providing service in return, he asked to switch off the phone, the thug immediately disconnected the phone and blocked the number. There is a photo of Pawan Hans helicopter on the WhatsApp profile of the swindler and the name of the company (Pawan Hans Pvt. Ltd.) is also given in the profile below.
Let us tell you that the company named Pawan Hans is not providing any service right now. Booking of its helicopter service has also not started yet, but it is to start from January 16. Pawan Hans will start its services from January 20, its official website But it has been told. In such a situation, it is clear that even before the service of Pawan Hans started, the swindlers had started committing fraud in his name.
This is how you can avoid cyber fraud in Prayagraj Mahakumbh
of reports according toCyber ​​criminals are trying to cheat in the name of facilities like hotel, dharamshala, tent city and cottage booking at cheap prices. In such a situation, if you are also coming to Mahakumbh, then take special care of some things. For this, from Cyber ​​Crime Headquarters advisory Has also been issued. Many other important information is also being given online for the devotees. A special website www.Kumbh.gov.in has also been created for Kumbh, and they are also being helped through chatbox and other means.
Mahakumbh 2025 pic.twitter.com/NBXNQN9ODp
— Cyber ​​Police UP (@cyberpolice_up) January 15, 2025
To stay safe from any kind of fraud in the fair, download the Mahakumbh Police App. Pay attention to news and alerts to stay safe from any potential danger. If you get information about any fake website, app or social media account during the fair, then report it immediately. Police have said that if a person becomes a victim of cyber crime, he can also lodge a complaint on the National Helpline 1930 or on the authorized website for reporting cyber crime, www.cybercime.gov.in. Apart from this, complaint can also be lodged through UP Police’s UPcop app.
