Digital arrest crackdown: CBI raids 89 locations,3 held

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a nationwide crackdown on organised syndicates involved in digital arrest crimes, conducting searches at 89 locations across 20 states under Operation Chakra-VI, the  probe agency said on Friday. During the operation, the CBI arrested three persons in Haryana and Kolkata for their alleged roles in receiving, layering and dispersing the fraud proceeds, it said.
The CBI has taken over several digital arrest-related cases registered in different states. In three such cases, investigators carried out extensive searches based on detailed financial and technical analysis. The probe involved scrutiny of bank accounts, online account access data and other digital trails to identify the movement of fraud proceeds and trace the handlers and beneficiaries of the syndicates.
“One of the cases relates to BITS Pilani, where the victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for three months and defrauded of Rs 7.67 crore by scammers posing as police officers. In another case in Gujarat, a victim was digitally detained for three months by individuals impersonating police officers and allegedly defrauded of Rs 19.24 crore. The third case, registered in Karnataka, involves a victim who was kept under digital arrest for a month and allegedly cheated of Rs 15.45 crore,” the CBI said.The searches resulted in the seizure of banking documents, account-related records, digital devices and other material considered crucial to the investigation.
CBI arrested 03 persons, whose examination during the searches brought out their specific and material role in receiving, layering and dispersing the fraud proceeds. Akash, a resident of Haryana, was found to have received Rs. 1.95 crore of the defrauded amount into his account and opened the account himself and its swift transfer onwards to other accounts on the same day, establishing his direct and knowing role in laundering the proceeds. Raja Karmakar of Kolkata, was found receiving Rs. 1.5 crore of the fraud proceeds into his firm's account. Jyoti Rani, into whose account part of the defrauded sum was credited, withdrew part of it in cash and transferred remaining to other accounts, thereby actively participating in dispersing the money to obscure its trail. Efforts are underway to track down and apprehend the remaining accused involved in the wider network.
The agency said the investigation into all three cases is continuing, with further examination of the seized banking and digital evidence expected to help uncover the wider network behind the alleged frauds.The Supreme Court has also directed the CBI to take concerted action against perpetrators and the wider networks facilitating such crimes.

(Freelance Journalist)