Lucknow: In a joint operation, the Lucknow Police Crime Team and Gomtinagar Police have arrested four members of a gang that posed as Special Operations Group (SOG) officials and defrauded unsuspecting citizens by luring them with fake investment schemes. The arrests were made late Wednesday night near IILM Road in Vinit Khand. Acting on a complaint filed by Rajkumar, a resident of Prayagraj, the police registered an FIR (No. 300/2025) under sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The victim had alleged that the accused duped him of several lakhs by promising to double his money, pretending to be officers from the Crime Branch.
Following the FIR, a swift investigation led by Officer Anand Kumar Yadav culminated in the arrest of four individuals: Vishal Kumar of Gosainganj, Rambahadur of Sant Kabir Nagar, Ramprasad of Maharajganj, and Anjani Kumar of Samastipur, Bihar. The accused were caught with 30 bundles of counterfeit currency bearing the mark “Children Bank”, 8 bundles with a real ₹500 note on top and fake ones below, ₹30,000 in genuine cash, a country-made pistol with one live cartridge, and fake police ID cards. Individual amounts of cash were recovered from each of the accused, and one of them, Rambahadur, was found in possession of the illegal firearm.
All four have been booked under charges of cheating, impersonation, forgery, and illegal possession of arms. An additional case under the Arms Act has been invoked against Rambahadur. Police are now checking the criminal records of the accused and have confirmed that Anjani Kumar has an existing Arms Act case registered at Rounahi police station in Ayodhya. Authorities stated that the gang was targeting individuals with promises of quick financial gains under the guise of being crime branch officers and called for heightened public awareness against such scams. The case is under further investigation.
