CBI Files Chargesheet Against 4 In ₹7.67 Crore Digital Arrest Scam Involving Fake Law Enforcement Officials

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against four accused in a digital arrest case wherein a professor in a Rajasthan-based educational institution was fraudulently ‘digitally arrested’ by cybercriminals impersonating as officials of a law enforcement agency and extorted Rs 7.67 crore from the victim between October 2023 and January 2024. In the said case, a total of eight persons, including four from Mumbai, had been arrested.

According to the CBI, a chargesheet was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. The case was originally registered by Rajasthan police and then transferred to the CBI by the Rajasthan government.

The chargesheet was filed within the statutory time limit of 60 days from the date of arrest, while investigation is continuing against the remaining four accused. All eight arrested persons are presently in judicial custody, agency officials said.

In April and May, based on the leads generated during the investigation, the CBI conducted extensive searches across twelve locations in Mumbai, Moradabad and Sambhal in UP, Jaipur, and Krishnanagar in West Bengal and arrested eight persons, including four from Mumbai, involved in the said cybercrime syndicate.

According to sources, the complainant had received a call in October 2023, in which the caller introduced himself as an official of TRAI. The caller stated that a cybercrime had taken place through another mobile number, which was issued using documents of the complainant. Thereafter, the complainant kept receiving calls where callers posed as CBI, ED, and Mumbai police officers.