AHMEDABAD: A cyber fraud trail that began with a terrifying digital arrest of a 61-year-old Surat man has now stretched all the way to an international escape attempt, with Gujarat Police arresting another key accused at Delhi airport as he tried to flee to Russia.
The noose around a sophisticated cyber fraud gang tightened further when Gujarat’s Surat Cyber Crime Cell intercepted another accused at Delhi airport just hours before he could leave the country.
The man, identified as Shankar Chaudhary, was caught while attempting to board a flight to Russia, a move investigators say clearly pointed to his role in a Rs 1.71 crore digital arrest case, with a senior citizen in Surat as the victim.
The case traces back to a phone call received by a 61-year-old resident, where a caller posed as a police officer and spoke with rehearsed authority.
According to investigators, the fraudster told the victim that his Aadhaar-linked SIM card had been used for large-scale suspicious bank transactions.
“You are involved in money laundering and fraud cases,” the caller warned, creating panic before tightening the trap. Once fear took over, the scam escalated swiftly.
The victim was “digitally arrested”, a psychological tactic where the target is kept under constant video or phone surveillance and warned not to contact anyone.
Under this pressure, the accused forced him to transfer Rs 1.71 crore to multiple bank accounts, each step monitored, each transfer draining his life savings.
The Cyber Crime Cell first cracked the network by arresting Mukesh Patel and Mehul Patel. Their interrogation led police to Dungarsinh Arjansinh Devaji Rajput, Kesarsinh Modsinh Deora and Rameshwar Popatbhai Suthar's names that soon emerged as key links in the account-supply chain of the racket.
Police say Shankar Chaudhary played a crucial operational role.
He allegedly procured State Bank of India current accounts belonging to already arrested accused Kesarsinh Devda and Dungarsinh Rajput through Rameshwar Suthar, paying a commission of 3.5 per cent per transaction.
These accounts were then passed on to absconding cyber fraudsters, who used them to siphon off defrauded money, with Shankar charging a higher commission of 4 per cent for facilitating the transactions.
Sensing the tightening net, Shankar went underground, prompting police to issue a lookout circular.
That alert paid off when immigration inputs flagged his attempt to leave the country.
Cyber Crime Cell officers moved swiftly, detaining him at Delhi airport before he could board his Russia-bound flight.
Produced before the court, Shankar Chaudhary has now been remanded to three days of police custody, as investigators dig deeper into money trails, commission networks and possible international links.
With six accused already behind bars, police believe the arrests have exposed not just a gang, but a business model of cyber crime where fear is the weapon, bank accounts are commodities, and fraud runs on commission.