The Delhi Police has busted a cyber fraud syndicate involved in digitally extorting money through forged documents of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and arrested four members of the gang.
According to the police, the accused held a 45-year-old woman, her daughter and her elderly father virtually hostage on video calls for two straight days, and extorted Rs 8.10 lakh by threatening legal action under a fictitious money laundering case.
The incident came to light after the victim, a private sector employee residing in Lahori Gate here, filed a complaint at the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
“The woman reported that she received a call from an unknown number where the caller claimed to be from the Telecom Department and accused her of using a fake SIM card. The situation escalated when she started receiving continuous video calls from numbers impersonating officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthai said in a statement.
The DCP further said that during these calls, the fraudsters accused the woman of involvement in a money laundering racket and threatened her with arrest. They even sent her forged legal documents bearing fake seals and logos of the Supreme Court, ED, and CBI to lend credibility to their threats.
For 48 hours -- from March 5 to March 7 -- the woman and her family were held in a state of fear and compliance during the constant live video surveillance, which was termed a case of “digital arrest”. “Unable to withstand the psychological pressure and threats, the woman transferred a total of Rs 8.10 lakh to accounts provided by the fraudsters, in hopes of clearing her name. Later, she approached the police after realising the deception,” said the DCP.
Following her complaint, the cyber police of North District registered an FIR on March 24 and an investigation was launched.
According to police, the investigators checked call detail record (CDR) and money trail to track down the perpetrators. The syndicate’s operations were traced to south Delhi, with specific leads pointing to Zamrudpur, East of Kailash and Greater Kailash. Three people were arrested on March 31 following raids at these locations.
Police said that the accused were identified as Raja Mandal (27), a former agent of a food delivery aggregator; Tushar Thapa (23), a resident of Ambedkar Nagar and an account provider; and Saurabh Tiwari (23), an associate of Thapa.
The officer said that the arrested men had devised a systematic method of luring locals into opening bank accounts with forged documents in exchange for a cut from the illicit proceeds. These accounts were used to receive money extorted from victims. Fake SIM cards were also procured and registered to access OTPs and SMS updates related to these bank accounts.
“During interrogation, it was revealed that Raja Mandal’s account was used for receiving the extorted amount and that it had been opened on the directions of Thapa and Tiwari. The accused would withdraw funds through self-issued cheques and route the cash to unknown handlers higher up in the syndicate. A total of four mobile phones used in the scam were seized from them,” said the DCP. Further investigation led to a second round of raids in Chanakyapuri and RK Puram, resulting in the arrest of the fourth accused in the case, Anup Kumar Tiwari (23), a cab driver from New Moti Bagh, on April 3.
According to police, Anup Tiwari admitted to receiving Rs 18 lakh in fraudulent transactions through his account, which he later handed over to absconding accomplices.
The DCP said that the police team also chased two other accused during the RK Puram raid. However, the duo managed to escape, abandoning their SUV which was later seized. “Further investigation into the matter is underway. Teams are working to arrest the absconding members of the gang,” said the officer.
