CBI Conducts Searches At 22 Locations In Digital Arrest Case, Arrests Two Accused Over ₹11.42 Crore Cyber Fraud

Mumbai: Intensifying its nationwide crackdown on Digital Arrest crimes the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted coordinated searches at 22 locations across 10 states including Maharashtra and arrested two accused persons in a major Digital Arrest case from Gujarat. The action forms part of the CBI’s sustained offensive against the syndicates behind this menace, which continues to pose a grave threat to citizens across the country. Taking serious note of the alarming scale of these crimes, the Supreme Court of India has directed the CBI to take concerted action against the perpetrators and the wider networks facilitating such offences.

Victim Forced To Transfer ₹11.42 Crore

In the present case, the victim was allegedly held under “digital arrest” for three months by cybercriminals impersonating police officers and officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and was coerced into transferring Rs. 11.42 crore to accounts controlled by the syndicate. The searches, planned on the basis of detailed financial and technical analysis of the money trail, led to the seizure of incriminating banking documents, account-related records, digital devices and other crucial evidence, which are now being forensically examined to unravel the wider financial and technological infrastructure sustaining the Digital Arrest syndicates operating across state boundaries.

Two Accused Held For Handling Fraud Money

Examination during the searches brought out the specific and material roles of the two arrested accused, Himanshu Prasad and Unis Biswas, in receiving, layering and dispersing the proceeds of crime. Investigation has revealed that they allegedly used the bank account of a private company to receive Rs. 2.5 crore out of the Rs. 11.42 crore defrauded from the victim, and actively participated in transferring the funds onward to multiple accounts of their accomplices with the intent of obscuring the money trail.

Investigation has further revealed that both accused were allegedly involved in using bank accounts and installing APK files to siphon off proceeds generated through Digital Arrest frauds and other cybercrimes. Several incriminating chats, messages and documents have also been recovered from the digital devices seized from their possession. Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend the remaining members of the network. Carrying forward its relentless fight against organised cybercrime, the CBI has taken over a number of Digital Arrest cases from various States, in each of which the victims were digitally detained by cybercriminals impersonating law-enforcement and government officials and coerced into transferring large sums of money.

In four of these cases, in past 30 days the CBI has so far conducted extensive, coordinated searches at 142 locations spanning 22 states and arrested 17 accused persons, striking simultaneously to trace the proceeds of crime, unmask the beneficiaries and handlers behind the syndicates, and secure incriminating material before it could be destroyed.

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