Navi Mumbai cops arrest three men, bust digital arrest fraud ring

Thane, May 29 (PTI) Police in Navi Mumbai have busted an interstate gang involved in digital arrest frauds, arresting three individuals who allegedly cheated people by posing as government officials and coercing them into transferring large sums of money, officials said on Thursday.

The trio, identified as Ramesh Babulal Seth (45), Amish Deepak Tulsidas Shah (42) -- both residents of Mumbai -- and Ahmedabad native Rajkumar Gelaram Narang (55), was arrested by the Central Crime Unit (CCU) of the Navi Mumbai police, an official release said.

While Seth and Shah were sent to jail by a local court, Narang is in police custody till May 30, it said.

According to the release, the trio employed a sophisticated modus operandi, using "fake letter heads of the Income Tax department, CBI, ED, and the Supreme court." They would "pose as officials of these organisations and showed the fake letters from them to the victims and put them in digital arrest and extracted monies from them," according to police.

Digital arrest is an online scam where fraudsters, impersonating law enforcement agencies, threaten people with arrest via video calls and coerce them into transferring money in bank accounts provided by them.

The gang was identified while police were probing a high-profile cyber fraud reported between January and February 2025 when a female doctor was subjected to digital arrest and duped of nearly Rs 2 crore.

"The fraudsters claimed they were from the Income Tax department, and told her she had evaded taxes and she had a company in Vazipur, New Delhi. They further told her an amount of Rs 8,62,30 was due from her and a complaint had been made in writing with the Delhi police," said the release.

The scammers sent fake letters purported to be and on the letter heads of government agencies on her WhatsApp. Driven by fear, the victim transferred Rs 1,81,72,667, which comprised money kept in bank and those in other investments, into 6 bank accounts provided by the thugs, police said.

After realizing she has been cheated, the doctor filed a police complaint. An FIR was subsequently filed with the Cyber Police Station on February 17 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

To crack the case, three different police teams were formed and they carried out a search and arrested the trio, said the release.

"The investigation revealed the arrested individuals, along with wanted accomplices, entered into a criminal conspiracy and formed an organised crime syndicate and formed bogus companies for cheating," it said.

Explaining the modus operandi, the release said, "The accused took galas (shops) on rent and set up bogus companies and opened different bank accounts in their name. They obtained internet banking facilities and other items like debit cards and mobile SIM cards. The scammers made online calls, put victims under digital arrest and cheated them." Police said Rs 1,13,5,00 in cash, one laptop, 18 mobile phones, 18 cheque books, 32 debit cards, 33 cheques, 27 SIM cards, two bank passbooks, rubber stamps of 10 bogus companies, documents relating to opening of bank accounts of 10 firms were recovered from them.

The arrested individuals have prior criminal records, they added. PTI COR RSY