Rs 1.12-cr digital arrest scam: IIT Delhi graduate, bank manager among 6 held

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Police said Desai travelled to Delhi and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh with associates to collect the money.A web developer who graduated from IIT Delhi and a private bank operations manager are among six people arrested by the Mumbai Cyber police for allegedly cheating a 68-year-old Dahisar resident of Rs 1.12 crore in a ‘digital arrest’ scam.Police said the accused impersonated officials of the Telecom Department, police and other agencies and threatened the victim with arrest in a fake Rs 238-crore money-laundering case.  They allegedly showed him a fake Supreme Court notice and kept him under “digital arrest” through WhatsApp video calls before forcing him to transfer the money, said DCP (Cyber) Bajrang Bansode.The accused have been identified as Gaurav Mahesh Goyal (40), an IIT Delhi graduate and web developer; Shikhar Mukesh Tyagi (28), a private bank operations manager; Rajesh Kumar Mohanlal Jain (54); Mohammad Tariq Anwar Momin (49); Ajay Kumar Kaliprasad Sharma (35); and Chintankumar Sureshbhai Desai (46).The fraud took place between July 30 and August 12. Police traced the first account that received the money and allegedly uncovered a network that arranged bank accounts and SIM cards to receive and transfer fraud proceeds.Police said Desai travelled to Delhi and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh with associates to collect the money. Investigators seized 20 mobile phones, two laptops, 25 bank accounts, ATM cards, passbooks and Aadhaar cards.Police said Goyal is also an accused in a 2021 Bandra police case.