Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: After a 90-year-old man was targeted by digital arrest scammers and duped of a large sum of money, the Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations arrested two suspects. Significantly, the cops managed to recover Rs 2.2 crore of the cheated amount.It all started on March 12 when the elderly man received multiple unsolicited calls from individuals impersonating officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Maharashtra police. The callers falsely claimed that several First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against him. To make the threat seem legitimate, the fraudsters intimidated him with the prospect of imminent arrest.The man was subjected to “Digital Arrest.” The scammers used video calls to show forged court orders and tricked the retired surgeon into participating in a fabricated virtual hearing. During this fake hearing, the elderly was coerced into liquidating all his fixed deposits. Under the threat of severe legal consequences and harm to his family, he transferred a large sum to three designated bank accounts, believing he was resolving the issue.A total of Rs 3.42 crore was duped, and a case was registered.Deputy commissioner of police (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari formed a team under sub-inspector Manjeet under the supervision of ACP (IFSO) Vivekanand Jha. “During the inquiry, it was found that the money was transferred to 185 accounts across the country, including those in Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, Bihar and other states,” an officer said.The siphoned amount was frozen in the destination accounts, and a process for the reversal of money was started, leading to the recovery of Rs 2.2 crore.“Among the fraudulent transactions, a substantial sum of Rs 1 crore was transferred to an account in Jaipur. This entire amount was fully retrieved from the primary account itself. The remaining Rs 2.42 crore was transferred in two instalments—Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.42 crore—to accounts in Assam. Cops eventually retrieved approximately Rs 1.1 crore from one of the Assam accounts,” an investigator said.An additional Rs 19 lakh was being held across more than 180 bank accounts. As of now, approximately Rs 4 lakh has been successfully recovered out of this.While analysing digital footprints and conducting technical surveillance, police identified two suspects. A raid in Ghaziabad led to the arrest of Amit Sharma, also known as Rahul. Further investigation uncovered the involvement of another suspect, Hari Swargiary, who was apprehended in Guwahati, Assam. “During the investigation, multiple layers of accounts were discovered. When we questioned the account holders where money was transferred, it was revealed that they sold their account details to Sharma.Upon capturing Sharma, he disclosed that he shared these details with Swargiary,” police said. The inquiry also revealed that Swargiary was in contact with scammers from Nepal and Dubai.Sharma was a resident of Anand Vihar, while Swargiary, a BSc graduate, resides in Assam. Regarding recoveries, three mobile phones, SIM cards and other digital documents linked to the fraudulent activities were seized during the operation.
Mayank Rawat
