Parbhani police bust interstate ‘digital arrest’ racket, freeze Rs 23 lakh
Five suspects have been arrested, Rs 23 lakh frozen in bank accounts and electronic equipment worth Rs 5.3 lakh seized. The cyber police team, led by inspector Ganesh Kadam, analysed transactions routed through 11 layers of bank accounts to identify the alleged masterminds, technical handlers and suppliers of bank accounts used in the fraud. The arrested accused include a woman from Taloja in Navi Mumbai, Aftab Abdul Pathan (24) of Shirwal, Taufiq alias Billa Inayatullah Patel (34) of Karad, Gurpreet Singh Jagjit Singh (25) of Mohali and Sahil Balkrishna Kataria (26) of Zirakpur. Police seized 19 ATM and debit cards, a credit card, three corporate cards, 18 SIM cards linked to bank accounts, 10 Android phones and Rs ,000 cash. The total value of seized material is estimated at Rs 5.33 lakh.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Parbhani police have busted an interstate cybercrime racket that allegedly duped a retired professor of over Rs 1 crore by threatening him with a “digital arrest” and falsely linking him to a money laundering case. Parbhani SP Pankaj Kumawat said police cracked the case after tracing the money trail across several states. The accused allegedly posed as officials from the Delhi Police, NIA and ATS during WhatsApp video calls and convinced the victim that terrorists had opened bank accounts using his Aadhaar details.
Fearing legal action, the victim transferred Rs 1.1 crore to multiple bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters. To make the threat appear genuine, they allegedly sent forged RBI letters and warned the professor of arrest.