New Delhi, June 19 : A small-time tea stall owner in Seelampur became the unsuspecting victim of a sophisticated cyber fraud that resulted in the loss of Rs 2.36 lakh from his wife's bank account.

However, swift action by the Cyber Police of Delhi's North-East District led to the arrest of a 21-year-old cyber fraudster and recovery of key evidence, including a mobile phone and SIM cards used in the crime.

The complainant, Gareeb Nath Gupta, a resident of Sonia Vihar who runs a tea stall near Seelampur Bus Stand, approached the Cyber Police Station on June 4.

He reported that his Samsung keypad phone ' containing a functioning SIM card ' had gone missing on May 27.

Shockingly, between May 28 and June 2, someone exploited the lost SIM card to conduct a series of unauthorised UPI transactions, siphoning off Rs 2.36 lakh from the distraught tea vendor's bank account.

Acting promptly, the Cyber Police registered a case under Sections 303(2)/318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and formed a special team led by Inspector Rahul Kumar (SHO/Cyber PS) and supervised by ACP Mangesh Gedam.

With the help of technical surveillance and digital forensics, investigators traced the fraudulent activity to an Airtel Payments Bank account connected to a stolen mobile phone.

The accused was identified as Md. Monish, a 21-year-old mobile phone repair mechanic residing in Janta Mazdoor Colony, Welcome, Jafrabad, Delhi.

He was arrested after a targeted operation. During interrogation, Monish confessed to purchasing stolen phones ' often already containing active SIM cards ' from unidentified individuals at cheap prices.

He then exploited any financial accounts linked to those numbers for illegal transfers via UPI apps. Police have frozen Rs 35,000 from the cheated amount and recovered one mobile phone and two SIM cards used in the cybercrime.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to identify other suspects or links in the digital fraud chain.

The incident is a stark reminder of how everyday individuals, even those with minimal digital exposure, can become targets of cybercrime in this digital era.

/IANS