3 held in connection with digital arrest fraud

Three people have been arrested in connection with a digital arrest fraud of ₹40 lakh, Faridabad police said on Tuesday. The accused, Gaurav, Sunny and Harshit, hailing from Rajasthan, were apprehended on Monday and sent on a four-day police remand after producing them in a city court, police said.

The matter came to light when a woman, a resident of Omaxe Green Valley in Faridabad, lodged a police complaint in November last year.

In the complaint, she mentioned that she received a call from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India telling her that her mobile number would be blocked. Soon, the call was transferred to someone claiming from the Mumbai police. On the call, she was told that her Aadhaar card was used for a Canara Bank account from which illegal transactions worth ₹6 crores were made, according to the complaint.

The cyber thugs then threatened her with the arrest and extorted ₹40 lakh from her.

Following the complaint, a case was registered, and the accused were arrested. During interrogation, it was revealed that Gaurav’s account was used to transfer ₹2.40 lakh of the fraudulent money. He had reportedly given the operational details of the account to Sunny, who had further shared it with Harshit. Harshit used to send the money deposited in the account to the cyber thugs, the police said. Further investigation is underway, said the police.