NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has arrested 11 men for their alleged involvement in multiple digital-arrest scams involving over Rs 12 crore, with nearly Rs 10.5 crore frozen, an official said on Tuesday.
The investigation began after a 69-year-old retired scientist and former director in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology alleged that he was cheated of Rs 1.25 crore. The accused allegedly posed as Delhi Police, Anti-Terrorism Squad and National Investigation Agency officers and threatened to arrest him in a money-laundering case.
Police said the victim was allegedly forced to transfer the money to three bank accounts under the pretext of fund verification. Investigators traced the transactions and arrested five men from a premises in Dwarka’s Sector 7. Six others were subsequently arrested in connection with the case.
Police alleged that the accused arranged bank accounts for cyber fraud and coordinated with handlers in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries. Digital evidence, including Telegram chats and a suspicious application allegedly used to forward one-time passwords, was recovered from seized phones.
Analysis of digital evidence has linked the accused to 78 complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal across states, involving `73 crore, officials said. The probe also uncovered links to a case in Vijayawada, where a 79-year-old man was allegedly cheated of `10.25 crore.
Vijayawada connection
The probe also uncovered links to a case in Vijayawada, where a man was allegedly cheated of Rs 10.25 crore. Police said Rs 1.96 crore was initially put on hold, followed by Rs 7.25 crore.
Rs 77 lakh fraud
The accused have also been linked to a separate Delhi digital-arrest case involving an alleged fraud of Rs 77 lakh, an official said. Further investigation is underway, police said.