Six arrested in Rs 1.12 crore digital arrest fraud case

An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate and a bank manager were among six people apprehended by the Mumbai Cyber Police for allegedly duping a senior citizen of ₹1.12 crore through a "digital arrest" scam, an official said.

The accused were identified as Tarik Momin, Rakesh Jain, Chintan Desai, Shakar Tyagi, G Gohel, and Ajay Sharma, the official said on Thursday (September 17).

Gohel is a web developer with a BE degree from IIT Delhi and was previously booked in a 2021 cheating case, while Tyagi works as an operations manager with a private bank, he said.

"The victim, a 68-year-old retired businessman from Dahisar, was kept under digital arrest at his residence for nearly two weeks between July and August," the official said.

The fraudsters initially contacted the victim posing as officials from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), alleging his Aadhaar details were misused in a money laundering case registered in Delhi, he said.

Subsequently, an impersonator named 'Vijay Khanna' placed him under "digital arrest" through WhatsApp video calls wearing police uniforms and displaying fake documents bearing official logos and references to the Supreme Court, the official said.

"Coerced under threat of family arrest and forced to report his location every two hours, the victim liquidated his fixed deposits and transferred Rs 1.12 crore into multiple bank accounts controlled by the gang. The crime came to light after the victim's daughter discovered the fraud and approached the cyber police," he said.

A probe by the North Cyber Police traced the money trail to a gold trading firm's bank account, the official said.

"Momin managed mule bank accounts, while firm director Rakesh Jain's registered SIM card was routed through Tyagi and Gohel to handle OTPs. Accused Chintan Desai then travelled with the linked device to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, where the stolen funds were withdrawn and siphoned off," he said.

Further probe into the syndicate's financial transactions and other operations is being led by senior inspector Pramod Kamble and inspector Sunil Lokhande under the supervision of DCP Bajrang Bansode, he added.