Retired officer duped of over Rs 48 lakh in ‘Digital Arrest’ scam; three arrested

A retired government officer was duped of over Rs 48 lakh by fraudsters posing as officials, who were later arrested by the Delhi Police, officials said on Saturday.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Surendra Chaudhary, the complainant, stated that on March 2, he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number.

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The caller, identifying himself as Deepak Sharma from TRAI, informed the victim that a case had been registered against him under the PMLA Act at Colaba Police Station in Mumbai and asked him to cooperate with the investigation.

The victim said he was kept on a video call for over 20 hours and was made to interact with multiple individuals posing as law enforcement officials.

Additionally, he was asked to provide detailed financial information, including bank accounts, fixed deposits, and life insurance policies. The fraudsters shared fake documents bearing official seals and stamps to gain his trust.

Under duress, he was forced to withdraw his PPF savings and break his fixed deposits, transferring the funds to accounts controlled by the fraudsters. The total loss amounted to Rs 48,59,308.

During the preliminary investigation, the police traced the IP addresses of the WhatsApp numbers used by the fraudsters to Hong Kong.

Through meticulous analysis of bank transactions and technical leads, the police identified and arrested two accused individuals — Thunga Rajkumar and Kapil Rambhau Patil — who were operating shell companies and fake bank accounts to launder the cheated funds.

Further investigation revealed that another accused, Pushkar Chanderkant Pakhale, had previously been involved in a case related to the fake supply of COVID-19 drugs and had a history of opening shell companies and fake bank accounts for a commission.

The police are continuing their investigation to apprehend other suspects involved in the scam and to unravel the larger network of cybercrime operatives, the DCP added.