IIT-Delhi engineer, bank manager arrested by Mumbai Police for duping Rs 1.12 crore from a 68-year-old in a digital arrest scam

An IIT Delhi graduate and an operations manager at a private bank are among six people arrested by cyber police in connection with a Rs 1.12 crore digital arrest scam targeting a 68-year-old retired professional from Dahisar, as per a report by TOI.

Investigators said the accused allegedly played different roles in the movement of the defrauded money, including arranging mule bank accounts, supplying active SIM cards, facilitating access to devices used for receiving OTPs and withdrawing funds.

The victim was allegedly kept under a digital arrest for around two weeks in July-August after scammers convinced him that his Aadhaar card had been misused and that he was under investigation in a money-laundering case.


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How the Rs 1.12 crore digital arrest scam unfolded

The fraud began when the senior citizen received a call from a person claiming to represent a telecom authority. The caller allegedly told him that his Aadhaar details had been misused and that the matter would be transferred to the crime branch.

He was subsequently contacted by a man identifying himself as police officer Vijay Khanna. Khanna allegedly told the victim that a criminal case had been registered against him in Delhi over the misuse of SIM cards.

The caller further claimed that copies of the victim's Aadhaar and PAN cards had been recovered during a raid linked to a money-laundering investigation. The victim was allegedly threatened with public humiliation if he failed to comply with the instructions.

The scammers later contacted him through a WhatsApp video call displaying a police logo. During the call, they allegedly questioned him about his financial assets and directed him to liquidate his fixed deposits.

The victim was also warned against telling his family about the proceedings, with the scammers allegedly threatening that his relatives would be arrested if he disclosed the matter.

Fake documents bearing the letterhead “Govt Affairs, Supreme Court of India” were sent to him through WhatsApp. He was allegedly instructed to report his location every two hours and was coerced into transferring money.

The fraud came to light about two weeks later when the victim's daughter discovered what had happened. According to the account provided to police, Khanna even challenged her to approach the police.

Police trace money trail through gold trading firm

Following a complaint through the cybercrime helpline, an FIR was registered at the North Cyber Police station. A team supervised by DCP Bajrang Bansode, with senior inspector Pramod Kamble and inspector Sunil Lokhande, then examined the flow of the stolen funds, as reported by TOI.

Investigators found that a portion of the victim's money had been transferred to a bank account belonging to a gold trading company. Police said the mobile numbers of two directors of the firm were linked to the account, while the corresponding SIM cards were allegedly in the possession of Tariq Momin.

Momin was arrested and police suspect he helped arrange mule accounts to facilitate the movement of the funds.

One of the gold trading firm's directors, Rakesh Jain, was also arrested.

A police officer said, “The mobile numbers of two directors of the firm were linked to the bank account. SIM cards for both the numbers were with an individual named Tariq Momin who has been arrested.”

IITian and bank manager allegedly facilitated OTP access

According to investigators, Momin inserted the two SIM cards into new handsets and handed the devices to Shakar Tyagi, an operations manager at a private bank.

Police allege that the handsets were used to receive one-time passwords and that Tyagi, along with G Gohel, provided other scammers access to the devices.

Gohel, an IIT Delhi graduate with a BE degree, works as a web developer. Police said he had also been booked by Bandra police in a separate cheating case in 2021.

Investigators traced one of the handsets, containing Jain's SIM card, to co-accused Chintan Desai. Police said Desai travelled with the device from Mumbai to Delhi before proceeding to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh.

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Money moved through mule accounts in Uttar Pradesh

Police said funds transferred to the gold trading firm's account were subsequently handled through the network operating from Bijnor.

Part of the money was withdrawn, while another portion was transferred to additional mule accounts, according to investigators.

Tyagi, Gohel and Desai were arrested along with another accused, Ajay Sharma, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six.

Investigators said all six accused were allegedly connected to different stages of the financial trail, including receiving the illicit funds, arranging or managing mule accounts, providing active SIM cards and facilitating withdrawals.