Six held in Mumbai over ₹1.12 crore 'digital arrest' fraud on senior citizen

Mumbai Cyber Police have apprehended six people, including an IIT graduate and a private bank employee, in connection with the alleged duping of a 68-year-old retired businessman of ₹1.12 crore through a "digital arrest" scam, an official said on Thursday.

The accused were identified as Tarik Momin, Rakesh Jain, Chintan Desai, Shakar Tyagi, G Gohel and Ajay Sharma. Gohel, a web developer who holds a BE degree from IIT Delhi, was previously booked in a 2021 cheating case, while Tyagi works as an operations manager with a private bank.

According to the official, the victim, a retired businessman from Dahisar, was kept under "digital arrest" at his residence for nearly two weeks between July and August. The fraudsters first approached him posing as officials of the Department of Telecommunications, claiming his Aadhaar details had been misused in a money laundering case registered in Delhi.

An impersonator identifying himself as "Vijay Khanna" then placed the man under digital arrest through WhatsApp video calls, appearing in police uniforms and showing fake documents carrying official logos and references to the Supreme Court. Threatened with the arrest of his family and required to report his location every two hours, the victim liquidated his fixed deposits and transferred ₹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. A probe by the North Cyber Police traced the money trail to the bank account of a gold trading firm.

Investigators found that Momin managed mule bank accounts, while a SIM card registered to firm director Rakesh Jain was routed through Tyagi and Gohel to handle one-time passwords. Desai then travelled with the linked device to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, where the stolen funds were withdrawn and siphoned off, the official said.

Further investigation 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.