DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a man from West Bengal’s Malda district for allegedly helping cybercriminals defraud a senior citizen of Rs 1.20 crore through a “digital arrest” scam.
The accused, identified as Shantanu Das, is a resident of Gopalpur village under the English Bazar police station area in Malda. He allegedly allowed his bank account to be used to receive and route the proceeds of the fraud.
According to the STF, the victim, a senior woman from Almora, lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police station in January 2026. She said unidentified persons had contacted her through WhatsApp calls in December 2025 and posed as officials of a telecom regulatory authority.
The callers claimed that her Aadhaar card was linked to a Canara Bank account allegedly involved in money laundering transactions worth nearly Rs 60 crore. They also told her that about 5,000 people had transferred money to the account and that 5,000 first information reports had been registered against her.
Threatening her with arrest and prosecution, the fraudsters allegedly forced the woman to remain connected to them through WhatsApp calls for nearly 12 days. They instructed her not to contact family members, friends or the police.
On the pretext of verifying her bank accounts, the accused persuaded her to transfer money to several accounts. The victim eventually transferred a total of Rs 1,20,18,000, police said.
Following directions from senior STF officers, the cybercrime police collected details of the bank accounts, mobile numbers and WhatsApp profiles used in the offence. Information was obtained from banks, telecom service providers and Meta as part of the investigation.
An analysis of technical and digital evidence helped investigators trace one of the accounts and the mobile numbers linked to the alleged fraud. After verifying the details, an STF team arrested Das in Malda.
“Shantanu Das allowed his bank account to be used for receiving the proceeds of the cyber fraud. The money obtained from the victim was credited to the account and immediately transferred to other accounts,” STF Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh said.
“The investigation is continuing, and the role of other account holders and accused persons linked to the fraudulent transactions is being examined,” he added.
