Court grants bail to man accused in case of cheating by cloning Sim card of Cabinet Secretary

By Dhiraj Beniwal

New Delhi [India], May 12 : Delhi's Patiala House Court has granted bail to a man co-accused in a case of cheating by cloning the Sim card of the Cabinet Secretary.

The main accused allegedly after cloning the Sim card had made a call to the Superintendent of Police (SP), Sabarkantha, Gujarat impersonating himself as a Cabinet secretary for the transfer of a police officer.

The FIR was registered on February 16, this year, on the basis of a letter from the cabinet secretariat sent to the Home Secretary. Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) investigated the case. A charge sheet has been filed.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria granted bail to Naresh Kumar on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety bond in the like amount.

While granting the bail to accused Naresh Kumar on May 10, the court imposed some conditions on the accused.

The court said in the order, "Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case and that accused is in custody since February 19, 2023. The role alleged against him is that he told the profile of Bhupendra to Himanshu and Justin."

The court further said that the charge sheet has already been filed, the applicant is no more required for custodial interrogation and no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the accused behind bars. That no money was received by the accused.

It was submitted by Advocate Karan Tarkar and Radha Tarkar, counsels for the accused that nothing has been recovered from him at the time of arrest nor any substantial evidence has been found against him in the FIR as well as in the chargesheet.

Advocate Karan Tarkar also submitted that the applicant is a former Sarpanch of Village Gambhoi who belongs to a respectable family having deep roots in the society. There is no apprehension of his absconding or tampering with the evidence. The applicant has clean antecedents and is a permanent resident of Gujarat.

The bail application was vehemently opposed by the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) on the ground that the accused provided the details of victim Bhupendra to co-accused persons for cheating.

He also submitted that the accused was part and parcel of an overall conspiracy hatched to cheat the victim Bhupendra of Rs 50 lakhs.

The location of the mobile number of Naresh Kumar on January 24, 2023, was in Delhi at Paharganj when all other co-accused persons are also in Delhi, the APP submitted.

He prayed that considering the grounds, gravity and seriousness of the offences, the present application may be dismissed.

It is also alleged that the accused persons cheated Bhupendra Singh of Rs 50 lakhs on the pretext of getting him a ticket to contest general elections.