New Delhi, September 4 (Daily Kiran) : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has announced a major operation targeting organized crime linked to digital arrest fraud. On Friday, the agency executed simultaneous raids at 89 locations across 20 states as part of Operation Chakra-VI.
During the operation, the CBI apprehended three individuals from Haryana and Kolkata. These suspects are accused of playing significant roles in receiving and laundering fraudulent funds through various bank accounts.
The CBI has taken over the investigation of multiple cases related to digital arrest fraud. These investigations involved extensive financial and technical analyses, leading to large-scale searches. Authorities examined bank accounts, online account access data, and other digital evidence to trace the flow of illicit funds and identify the syndicate’s operators and beneficiaries.
One notable case involves a victim from BITS Pilani, who was allegedly held in a “digital arrest” for three months. Scammers posing as police officers defrauded him of ₹7.67 crore. In another incident from Gujarat, similar scammers kept a victim in a digital arrest for three months, resulting in a loss of ₹19.24 crore. A third case from Karnataka saw a victim held for a month, leading to a fraud of ₹15.45 crore.
During the raids, investigators seized banking documents, account-related records, digital devices, and other materials deemed crucial for the investigation. The CBI is conducting forensic examinations of the evidence to uncover the extensive financial and technical networks used by the syndicate across state lines.
The agency reported that the arrested suspects were involved in the laundering of fraudulent funds. For instance, Akash from Haryana received ₹1.95 crore in illicit funds in his bank account, which he transferred to other accounts on the same day, indicating his direct involvement in money laundering. Kolkata’s Raja Karmakar allegedly received ₹1.5 crore in his firm’s account. Jyoti Rani, another suspect, reportedly withdrew some cash and transferred the rest to different accounts to obscure the money trail.
This operation comes as digital arrest fraud cases continue to rise. Cybercriminals often impersonate police officers or government officials to intimidate victims into transferring large sums of money.
The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to take stringent action against those committing such crimes and the larger networks supporting them. The CBI stated that efforts to identify and apprehend additional members of this extensive network are ongoing. The agency remains committed to following the Supreme Court’s directives in combating digital arrest fraud and organized cybercrime.
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