Sacked BSF constable arrested for siphoning off Rs 70 lakh from retirement funds of BSF personnel

The Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police has busted a nexus of cyber cons involved in siphoning off Rs 70 lakh from a large number of Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel. The nexus was exposed with the arrest of Ghanshyam Yadav (33), a resident of district-Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, who was the mastermind of the scam.

According to the police, a complaint was received from NPS Section, BSF, alleging that Rs 70 lakh had been fraudulently siphoned off from Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) through 89 fraudulent transactions of 65 employees of BSF through the online facility of partial withdrawal of accumulated funds by self-declaration or authentication under the National Pension Scheme during the Covid period.

Ghanshyam, who was presently living in Prayagraj under an assumed false identity, was apprehended by the police from his rented accommodation in Prayagraj, where he was living with his paramour, presenting himself as a constable in the communication department of UP Police. He had even changed his name on his Aadhaar card by uploading a forged request for a name change on the portal of Aadhaar authenticated by using a forged stamp of CMO Prayagraj.

On interrogation, it was revealed that Ghanshyam, who was posted as a constable in BSF in 122nd Bn. in Malada, West Bengal, in May 2019, was dismissed from services during the same period. He got unauthorized access to the NPS portal through stolen credentials of 122nd Bn BSF and exploited the vulnerability in the NPS online system to get unauthorized access to five more DDO's accounts of BSF.

After having the money of partial withdrawal from PRANs in given accounts, Ghanshyam used to transfer the same to other accounts to get it encashed through money exchangers and his other known persons. The money was used by him to purchase a Baleno Car in the name of his paramour with whom he was living in Prayagraj. Some money was invested in purchasing a flat in Prayagraj, which is being verified.

The police are probing the role of other persons involved in the scam and have served notices to join the investigation as per the procedure of the law.