Delhi: Elderly woman duped of Rs 1.16 crore in 'digital arrest' scam, three held

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Delhi Police has arrested three alleged members of a cyber fraud syndicate for duping an 82-year-old woman of Rs 1.16 crore by placing her under digital arrest and coercing her to transfer money, an official said on Friday.

The victim was intimidated after the accused impersonated as law enforcement officials and showed her a fake arrest order during a video call. Under sustained psychological pressure and the threat of legal action, the elderly woman was forced to transfer a total of Rs 1.16 crore, he said.

During the investigation, police found that a major portion of the cheated amount -- around Rs 1.10 crore --” was credited to a current account of an NGO based in Himachal Pradesh. The account, however, was allegedly being operated by fraudsters from Patna in Bihar.

Police said as many as 32 complaints have been registered against the same bank account on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), involving an overall fraud amount of approximately Rs 24 crore.

Following technical analysis and financial trail examination, multiple raids were conducted in Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, leading to the arrest of three accused persons, they said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Prabhakar Kumar (27) from Nalanda district in Bihar, Rupesh Kumar Singh (37) from Bihar's Vaishali district and Dev Raj (46) from Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh.

The police said Prabhakar Kumar installed a malicious APK file on the mobile phone of co-accused Dev Raj, enabling the activation of SIM cards linked to fraudulent bank accounts.

He allegedly remained in constant touch with cyber fraudsters through internet-based virtual numbers, received cash commissions, distributed proceeds among associates and earned a substantial share for his role. Rupesh Kumar Singh allegedly received the bank account kit through postal delivery and coordinated meetings of co-accused in Patna.

The police said he facilitated the execution of fraudulent transactions from a hotel, acted as a key mediator between the account holder and the fraudsters, and received a substantial commission.

Dev Raj, who runs an NGO in Himachal Pradesh, allegedly opened a current account in the name of the NGO in connivance with his father Ved Prakash, the authorised signatory. For easy money, they handed over the account to Rupesh Kumar in Bihar, they said.

Dev Raj allegedly shared internet banking credentials and OTPs, travelled to Patna to execute transactions and received commission from the fraud proceeds.

According to the police, the accused impersonated law enforcement agencies, placed the victim under "digital arrest", routed the cheated money through NGO and personal bank accounts, misused internet banking credentials and OTPs, and laundered the funds before distributing them as commission.

Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional proceeds of crime. PTI SSJ NB NB