A special investigation team (SIT) headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Northern Range) Abhishek Dhullar would be constituted to investigate cryptocurrency frauds in Himachal Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said in the Assembly on Monday.
Replying to a question of Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh, he said 56 complaints of cryptocurrency frauds have been received and six FIRs registered in the state in the past two years. Five people — three from Himachal Pradesh and two from Punjab — have been arrested and charge-sheeted in these cases, he added. The deputy chief minister said cryptocurrency frauds are not restricted to Himachal Pradesh and such cases have been registered throughout the country.
Independent MLA Singh said it is a big scam and people in Kangra and Hamirpur districts have lost more than Rs 200 crore due to these frauds. He claimed the fraudsters lure innocent people by promising them that their money would be doubled in eight or nine months. Replying to questions of Congress MLA Rajesh Dharmani and Independent member K L Thakur, the deputy chief minister said the drug peddlers are using drones to smuggle “chitta” (drugs) from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The situation has become grave and people have also died due to overdose, he said and added that 4,445 drug peddlers have been arrested between January 2022 and August 2023. A financial investigation to differentiate between the kingpins, middlemen and addicts is being done and so far property worth Rs 14.88 crore has been confiscated.
As many as 1,574 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act have been registered from January to August this year and 2,136 men and 79 women have been arrested. About 11.5 kg of “chitta” has been recovered till August in comparison to 7.8 kg recovered last year. A person from whom less than five grams of “chitta” is recovered gets bail under the existing provision and the state government has requested the Centre to make it a non-bailable offence, he said.
Several steps – from awareness to rehabilitation and counselling – have been initiated to curb the drug menace, besides a special campaign to wipe out drugs, he added. Congress MLA Dharmani said most of the accused are drug addicts who are being used as carriers by drug dealers.
