SRINAGAR: Three people were arrested in the case of digital arrest by posing as officials from TRAI and CBI to coerce victims into transferring funds here, police said on Friday.
‘Digital arrest’ is a new cyber fraud, where the accused pose as law enforcement agency officials, like CBI or customs officials, and threatens people of arrest by making video calls in the name of fake international parcels of banned drugs, they said.
Addressing a press conference, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, Imtiyaz Hussain, said that the accused used psychological manipulation to defraud of senior citizen of Rs 21 lakh.
They accused the victim of being involved in a money laundering scam of Rs 6.8 crores and issued fabricated arrest warrants and penalties to intimidate him, the SSP said.
He said that the accused declared their conversations with the victim a “national secret” and instructed him to lock his house, avoid communication with others and falsely assured him of a refund within hours.
Under pressure, the victim prematurely closed his fixed deposits and transferred Rs 21 lakh into a fraudulent HDFC Bank account, he added.
A case was registered and Cyber Police Kashmir initiated a swift investigation.
“Leveraging advanced technical tools, the police identified the culprits and dispatched teams to Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Punjab. The operation led to the arrests of Gaurav Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, Gurpreet Singh and Ujjawal Chauhan from Punjab,” SSP said.
The police seized four mobile phones, a MacBook, 13 SIM cards, 24 debit cards, 20 chequebooks, 10 passbooks, and other incriminating materials, he said.
An amount of Rs 4.13 lakhs has been released into the account of the complainant, Hussain said.
The accused will face multiple charges, including fraud, conspiracy, and coercion. Further investigation is underway to uncover other conspirators and dismantle the larger network behind the scam, Hussain added. (PTI)
