VIJAYAWADA: Eluru district police have busted an international “digital arrest” racket involved in extortion and money laundering across India. Police arrested eight accused on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at Mangalagiri police headquarters, Elite Anti-Narcotic Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) chief Ake Ravi Krishna and Eluru District SP Kommi Pratap Siva Kishore said the network, divided into four groups, had been operating for the past four years from multiple locations and had defrauded the public of more than Rs 100 crore.
The SP said the probe began after a 66-year-old Eluru woman received a fake video call from fraudsters posing as Delhi police and ED officers.
“Under fear and coercion, she transferred Rs 51.9 lakh through multiple bank transactions for supposed investigation clearance. She was forced to pledge her gold and take loans to make the payments. She was detained for 72 hours. Around midnight, she called the police and described her ordeal,” Kishore said. “In our probe, we found that the gang of international ‘digital arrest’ fraudsters operated from scam compounds located in Cambodia and Nepal,” he said.
They traced links of the racket to Hong Kong, the US, China, and Singapore. Eluru Two Town police seized 12 malicious APK software files, over 150 bank accounts, about 40 cryptocurrency transactions, 112 illegal Chinese payment gateways, cloud servers traced to the US, China, and Singapore, and Rs 7 lakh from the accused.
The EAGLE chief and the SP said the gang operated through five layers — digital arrest cell, mule account aggregators, APK operators, cash and crypto converters, and institutional links. “Among those arrested were a police constable and a bank official,” they said.
The team, led by Eluru Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) D Shravan Kumar, traced the money trail to Nepal, revealing the accused laundered funds via APK malware and cryptocurrency abroad.
“With one complaint, we were able to solve over 400 cybercrime cases following the unearthing of the racket, in which more than 15 gangs operated at different levels. More arrests are likely,” the SP said.
With I4C and CERT-IN help, police traced Binance wallet commission trails.
“Funds were distributed via crypto wallets in defined commission slabs ranging from 0.5 to 2.5%. On September 17, Rs 1.46 crore and on the next day Rs 78 lakh were routed in the same way. This establishes a digital money trail (INR–USDT–CNY) connecting Indian mule accounts to Chinese payment gateways,” he added. “The gang recruits youth by offering salaries and then forces them to work by confiscating their passports. Weak KYC procedures have become a weapon for them to open fake bank accounts and obtain SIM cards,” he said. “Digital safety is national safety. Every alert citizen helps prevent another family’s loss. Public can report incidents of cybercrime by dialling 1930,” the SP added.
