The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals in connection with a ‘digital arrest’ scam case. Bibekananda Dixit and Jayant Kumar Acharya from Balasore, Odisha, and Kanhaiya Lal from Nagaur, Rajasthan, were taken into custody following searches at seven locations across Odisha and Rajasthan. The case was registered on March 25, after the High Court of Punjab and Haryana ordered the investigation.
The victim, a retired public servant, was coerced into transferring ₹2.07 crore under the threat of digital arrest. The CBI found that the defrauded funds were routed into a bank account opened in the name of a trust. Two accused were arrested from Balasore, Odisha, while the third accused was apprehended from Nagaur, Rajasthan.
They were actively involved in layering and transferring proceeds of crime from the victim through multiple accounts. The accused allegedly forced the victim to transfer the funds by threatening digital arrest. This is not the first instance of a ‘digital arrest’ scam.
Recently, the CBI arrested Shankar Pansari alias Shankar Rajput, who belongs to Karnal in Haryana, from Rajkot in Gujarat in another ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud case. In that case, the accused had forced a senior citizen into transferring ₹25.65 lakh to two different bank accounts under the threat of digital arrest. The victim received intimidating calls from unknown persons impersonating officials of security and counter-terrorism agencies.
The callers falsely claimed that her bank account had been used in terrorism-related activities and threatened her with arrest and seizure of her property. They also shared a fabricated attachment order.
