After IIT student, commerce graduate jailed for running 'laptop scam' under PM Modi's name

A 23-year-old aspiring charted accountant was arrested in Delhi for creating fake government websites and misleading people by offering them free laptops and solar panels, the police said on Tuesday.

The accused has been identified as Rohit Soni, a commerce graduate from Churu in Rajasthan.

According to a police statement, he had created a website called ''Modi-laptop'' and ''free-solar-panel''. However, he had closed down the website after an IIT graduate was arrested over similar allegations, police said.

"Police arrested Soni from Churu district after they received information that someone had created a fake website under the garb of the central government's flagship scheme," Deputy Commissioner of Police Anyesh Roy said.

Police said that the accused started a blog in 2016 which became very popular. Later he decided to earn money through the blog. He created fake government websites which offered free solar panels and laptops.

People who visited the website were asked to on a link for confirming their application for free solar-panel and laptops, police said. However, the link actually made people download an app, through which he earned money.

Read: IIT Graduate Arrested For Running 'laptop Scam' Under PM Modi's Name

Earlier, a 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly running a fake website with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and duping people in the name of "Free Laptop Government Scheme on the Occasion of Re-election of New Government", the police had informed.

Rakesh Jangid, a 23-year-old IIT postgraduate of the 2019 batch, was arrested from his hometown Pundlota in Rajasthan's Nagaur district, they said.

Over 15 lakh people were exposed to the con job within two days, the police said. The fake website offering the bogus scheme was promoted using instant messaging apps and became viral on WhatsApp, the police said.

According to the police, the accused used fake promotional multimedia message using ''Make in India'' logo and picture of the prime minister on the website to lure people to register themselves for getting free laptops.

He also intended to capture personal data of millions of citizens in the name of registration and use that for illegal monetary gains.