Himachal Pradesh Rs 2,000 Crore Crypto Scam Unveiled

Himachal's $238M Crypto Scams Over 3 Years: CM Speaks

Over the last three years, Himachal Pradesh has faced a tough time with cryptocurrency scams. According to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, these scams have taken away about Rs 2,000 crore (which is around $238 million).

Nearly one lakh people in the state have been hit hard. The biggest scam was a massive Rs 1,740 crore bitcoin fraud. Even though 89 people got arrested & 20 FIRs were filed, most of the stolen money still hasn't been found. Only Rs 11.36 lakh has been given back to six victims. The main guy behind this big scam, Subhash Sharma, is still on the run and is thought to be hiding out of the country.

Himachal Pradesh Battles Rising Cryptocurrency Scams and Cybercrime

Himachal Pradesh is dealing with more and more cybercrimes, especially with cryptocurrency scams that keep rising every year. In this state, people were tricked into putting their money in by promises of doubling it through various websites & platforms related to cryptocurrency. This scam impacted about one lakh folks across many districts like Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, and Kangra.

The police have caught 89 people connected to these scams & filed 20 FIRs so far. But sadly, Subhash Sharma is still at large. Some think he might be in Dubai. His partner, Milan Garg, was caught in Kolkata; however, police are searching for others involved in this scam network.

Due to the heightening number of cyber crimes, the Himachal Pradesh Police announced plans for new Integrated Cyber Extended (ICE) Units in nine districts without specialized cyber police stations right now. Currently, only three districts—Mandi, Kangra & Shimla—have cyber cells that are feeling overwhelmed by all the complaints coming in.

In fact, since 2019, daily reports of cybercrimes have grown from just 11 per day to about 44 per day in 2024! Additionally, there's a centralized helpline receiving about 248 calls daily; most relate to financial fraud.

Recently, the Himachal Pradesh High Court decided that FIRs don’t need to be registered if victims are just trying to recover lost funds due to how tough it is for police managing so many cases.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency scams in Himachal Pradesh have caused huge losses—around Rs 2,000 crore from almost one lakh victims. While arrests have happened & there's effort underway to bolster response efforts against cybercrime; unfortunately, that mastermind from the biggest scam remains at large. The state’s now aiming at boosting its cybercrime resources so they can better help protect citizens from future frauds like these.

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