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A 90-year-old man in Gujarat's Surat lost his entire life savings of over Rs 1 crore to fraudsters, who posed as CBI officers and placed him under 'digital arrest' for 15 days, claiming that drugs were found in a parcel that was couriered in his name from Mumbai to China.
According to the Surat Crime Branch, five people have been arrested for the racket that was run in collaboration with a gang in China, but the mastermind is yet to be traced. The main accused, Parth Gopani, is suspected to be in Cambodia.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhavesh Rozia said the senior citizen, who traded in the stock market, had received a WhatsApp call from one of the scamsters, who identified himself as a CBI officer. The conmen claimed that 400 grams of MD drugs was found in a parcel that was reportedly couriered in the senior citizen's name from Mumbai to China.
The accused also claimed that the man's bank account details revealed he was indulging in money laundering, and threatened to register a case and arrest him and his family.
The DCP said that on the pretext of interrogation, the elderly man was placed under 'digital arrest' for 15 days and was asked about transactions carried out through his bank account. Subsequently, the accused transferred Rs 1,15,00,000 from the man's account.
On learning about the incident, the victim's family approached the Surat Cyber Cell and filed a complaint on October 29. Police said five people have been arrested but a search is on for mastermind Gopani.
Police have also released a sketch of Gopani, who is suspected to be in Cambodia.
Police said 46 debit cards of various banks, 23 bank cheque books, one vehicle, rubber stamps of four different firms, nine mobile phones and 28 SIM cards were recovered from the arrested men.
Those arrested are Ramesh Surana, Umesh Jinjala, Naresh Surana, Rajesh Deora and Gaurang Rakholiya.
title="Five people have been arrested so far." />Five people have been arrested so far.
According to cyber law expert and advocate Pawan Duggal, "digital arrest' is the phenomenon of trying to put somebody in a sense of fear and panic and thereafter, going ahead and extorting money from the said person under some mistaken notion so as to make the said person a victim of a cybercrime."
There have been several advisories warning people that there is no provision for 'digital arrest' or online investigation in Indian law enforcement and yet, several people have fallen prey to such scams, losing crores in the process.
The Centre had recently warned about a widespread cyber scam targeting individuals across the country. It said the scam involved fraudulent letters threatening people with 'digital arrest' unless they comply with the scammers' demands.
Last month during an episode of his radio programme Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew attention to 'digital arrests' and warned people against such activities. "Beware of digital arrest frauds. There is no system like digital arrest under the law. No government agency will ever contact you via phone or video call for such an investigation," he said.