Two from Maharashtra arrested in Rs 77-lakh digital arrest scam

According to the complaint, the victim received a call on July 10 from a fraudster posing as a crime branch official, who alleged her Aadhaar Card had been misused in a money laundering case linked to Jet Airways CEO Naresh Goyal. The caller, along with accomplices posing as police officers, intimidated her with fake arrest warrants and forged Supreme Court orders over WhatsApp calls. Fearing arrest and threats to her family, she transferred Rs 77,42,420, via four RTGS transactions from her accounts in Canara Bank, PNB, SBI, and HDFC.

The police traced the trail through bank KYC and telecom data, identifying Patel’s role. On August 14, a police team raided locations in Maharashtra, arresting Patel and recovering a Vivo mobile phone with SIMs, a PAN card, and an SBI ATM card.

Based on his disclosure, police arrested Shayeed Mullah and recovered two Samsung Fold 5 phones, an Oppo phone, Aadhaar and PAN cards, a Federal Bank ATM card, and a driving licence.

Police have secured a lien amount of Rs 20,16,300 in the accused bank accounts. Custody has been sought for forensic analysis of recovered devices to trace the larger nexus.