Posing as cop, fraudster keeps retired teacher under digital ‘arrest’

An official on Sunday said that a 65yearold retired teacher was allegedly duped of Rs 83 lakh by a cyber fraudster who posed as a Maharashtra Police officer and kept her under digital arrest at her home in Beed district for 11 days reported news agency PTIAn FIR was registered by Beed Police on SaturdayAccording to a Beed cyber police official the caller identified himself as an officer of the Maharashtra Police reported PTIHe told the woman that a parcel arrived in her name contained drugs and placed her under digital arrest for 11 days from May 20 to May 30 asking her not to leave her house He made her transfer Rs 83 lakh to different accounts the official added reported PTIThe woman sensed something was amiss when the policeman started demanding more money and confided in her family membersShe approached the police and lodged an FIR under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita BNS Further investigation is underway the official addedNavi Mumbai cops arrest three men bust digital arrest fraud ringIn another case the 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 May 26The 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 reported PTIWhile Seth and Shah were sent to jail by a local court Narang is in police custody till May 30 it saidAccording to the release the trio employed a sophisticated modus operandi using fake letterheads of the Income Tax department CBI ED and the Supreme CourtThey 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 reported PTIThe 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 to bank accounts provided by them reported PTIThe gang was identified while police were probing a highprofile cyber fraud reported between January and February 2025 when a female doctor was subjected to digital arrest and duped nearly Rs 2 croreThe 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 86230 was due from her and a complaint had been made in writing with the Delhi police said the release reported PTIThe scammers sent fake letters purported to be and on the letterheads of government agencies on her WhatsApp Driven by fear the victim transferred Rs 18172667 which comprised money kept in the bank and those in other investments into 6 bank accounts provided by the thugs police saidAfter 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 reported PTITo crack the case three different police teams were formed and they carried out a search and arrested the trio said the releaseThe 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 saidExplaining 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 themPolice said Rs 113500 in cash one laptop 18 mobile phones 18 chequebooks 32 debit cards 33 cheques 27 SIM cards two bank passbooks rubber stamps of 10 bogus companies documents relating to the opening of bank accounts of 10 firms were recovered from them reported PTIThe arrested individuals have prior criminal records they addedWith input from PTI