Rs 2.08 cr frozen so far in Rs 14.8-cr digital arrest scam

The Delhi Police have frozen Rs 2.08 crore and arrested eight men for allegedly duping an elderly NRI couple of over Rs 14 crore through a “digital arrest” scam. The police also busted a cyber-fraud racket with links to operators based in Cambodia and Nepal, an official said on Saturday.

Police have frozen Rs 2.08 crore of the total Rs 14.84 crore duped in the case, he added.

The accused were apprehended from three states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha — following a multi-state operation that exposed a network engaged in impersonating law-enforcement agencies and siphoning off victims’ money through mule bank accounts, he said.

Those arrested include Divyang Patel, 30, and Krutik Shitole, 26, from Gujarat’s Vadodara; Mahavir Sharma alias Neel, 27, from Bhubaneswar in Odisha; Ankit Mishra alias Robin from Gujarat; Arun Kumar Tiwari, 45, and Pradyuman Tiwari alias S P Tiwari, 44, from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh; and Bhupender Kumar Mishra, 37, and Aadesh Kumar Singh, 36, from Lucknow, police said.

The police arrested Patel and Shitole on January 15. Patel, a B. Com graduate who has cleared the CA (Intermediate) examination, runs an NGO named Floresta Foundation and also provides financial services through his firm Tatva Business Advisors, police said.

Shitole holds a diploma in information technology from New Zealand, officials added.

Arun Kumar Tiwari, arrested on January 16, is a BA graduate and works as a private data-entry operator outside the Income Tax Office in Varanasi. He also runs an NGO named Shivas Charitable Foundation, police said.

Mahavir Sharma, arrested on January 19, is a B. Com graduate, while Pradyuman Tiwari, arrested on January 20, works as a priest and performs private rituals at the Varanasi ghats, officials said.

Ankit Mishra, arrested on January 21, is a B. Com graduate and has previously worked as a sales executive with SBI Cap Securities.

Bhupender Kumar Mishra, also arrested on January 21, holds an MBA degree and was employed in a private firm, while Aadesh Kumar Singh, arrested the same day, has completed a BA and used to provide private tuition, police said.

The case came to light after a 77-year-old woman living in South Delhi’s Greater Kailash was allegedly duped of more than Rs 14.84 crore. According to police, the victim received a call in December last year claiming that a SIM card issued in her name was linked to a money-laundering case.

She was then placed on video calls by fraudsters posing as officials from agencies such as the CBI and police, who showed her a forged arrest warrant and conducted fake “court proceedings”.

The woman and her husband were allegedly kept under round-the-clock video surveillance and threatened with dire consequences if they contacted anyone.

Under fear and coercion, they were persuaded to transfer funds, including fixed deposits and share investments, into so-called “RBI-mandated accounts” for verification, with false assurances that the money would be returned, police said.

An e-FIR was registered at the Special Cell’s IFSO police station on January 10 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and a special team was formed to investigate the case.

Through technical surveillance and analysis of bank accounts, police tracked the money trail to several mule-account holders.

The accused allegedly acted as facilitators by procuring and operating mule accounts and layering defrauded funds at the behest of an international syndicate, investigators said.

Seven mobile phones and cheque books were seized during the operation.

Efforts are underway to trace the remaining funds and identify other conspirators, police added.