‘Digital arrest’ fraud: Three held for duping elderly woman and others by posing as govt officers, cops

Investigators said the accused had been absconding and frequently changing locations to evade arrest. Intensive technical surveillance and local intelligence inputs helped officers track their movements before they were apprehended from Gurgaon and Hisar.

The arrested accused have been identified as Ravi (19), a resident of Hisar who has studied up to Class 12 and was pursuing a nursing assistant course at the time of his arrest. Police said he opened a mule account in a bank and sold it for a percentage of the cheated amount. The second accused, Mandeep (21), who is also from Hisar and studies till Class 12, worked as a DJ and allegedly sold the mule account to another accused. The third accused, Kaleem (32), from Southeast Delhi’s Tughlakabad Extension, worked as a carpenter. Police said he opened a mule account in the name of a firm.

“The crime syndicate’s modus operandi was to impersonate police officers and government agency officials to intimidate victims and force them to transfer large sums of money. They also opened fake investment portals to lure victims with promises of high returns. The funds were laundered through multi-layered bank accounts, followed by rapid ATM withdrawals. Poor and unemployed youths were especially recruited to operate mule accounts, facilitating the laundering of crime proceeds,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam.

Further technical analysis, digital evidence examination and financial tracing are underway to identify additional accounts and individuals connected with the syndicate, police said.

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