Cops Turn Crooks: Delhi Sub-Inspector Couple Steals, Flees With Rs 2 Crore Meant For Fraud Victims

Two Delhi Police officers stole over Rs 2 crore meant for cyber fraud victims, vacationed across tourist spots, and planned a new life under fake names. They were finally caught in Indore after four months on the run.

A shocking case of betrayal from within the police force has come to light in Delhi. A sub-inspector posted at the Cyber Thana in North-East Delhi, who once helped solve cyber fraud cases, allegedly stole over Rs 2 crore and ran away with his sub-inspector girlfriend. The stolen money was supposed to go back to the victims of cyber crimes.

Instead, the couple used it for their vacation in Goa, Manali and Jammu & Kashmir, before being finally caught in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after four months on the run.

Who were the officers?

The main accused is Sub-Inspector Ankur Malik, a 2021 batch officer. He was posted at Cyber Thana in Delhi's North-East district. His partner in the crime is Sub-Inspector Neha Punia, also from the 2021 batch, and posted at GTB Enclave police station, reports NDTV.

The two became close friends during police training in 2021, and according to the police, they started planning the fraud around that time.

How did they steal the money?

Malik was handling cases of cyber fraud where money was seized and frozen. He allegedly used fake names and documents to get a court order to release the money, claiming it belonged to fake complainants.

He then redirected the funds to bank accounts of his friends and contacts, the NDTV report said. This way, more than Rs 2 crore was siphoned off from the system and nobody initially raised an alarm, thinking the rightful owners had received it.

The escape and the missing reports

After rerouting the money, Malik applied for a 7-day medical leave and disappeared. Around the same time, Neha Punia also vanished from her post. When both officers failed to return, missing person reports were filed.

The internal inquiry soon revealed the link between the two missing officers and the stolen funds.

How the sub-inspector couple was tracked

The Delhi Police launched a full-scale manhunt using technical surveillance and intelligence gathering. They finally tracked the couple to Indore, where they were arrested after four months of hiding. During the arrest, police recovered:

• Gold worth Rs 1 crore
• Rs 12 lakh in cash
• 11 mobile phones
• A laptop
• 3 ATM cards
• Other items bought using the stolen money

A new life under fake identities

The couple had plans to start a new life using fake IDs. Police said they were going to settle in the hilly areas of Madhya Pradesh and completely disappear from their old lives.

They had already started converting the stolen money into gold, to make it harder to trace.

Both were married to other people

What adds to the drama is that both Malik and Punia are already married. Malik's wife lives in Baraut, Uttar Pradesh, and Punia's husband lives in Rohini, Delhi.

Their families were unaware of the couple's plan to run away together.

More arrests made

Three more people namely Mohammad Ilyas, Aafi alias Monu and Shadab were also arrested. These men allowed their bank accounts to be used for receiving and moving the stolen money.

Investigation still on

The Delhi Police is now interrogating the accused to find out if more people were involved in this fraud. The entire case has raised serious questions about internal corruption within the cyber crime units and safeguards for recovered money.