Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Latur cyber police arrested six people from Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana for allegedly operating mule bank accounts that cyber fraudsters used to cheat a 66-year-old retired BSNL official of Rs 28.51 lakh through a ‘digital arrest’ scam.
The retired man received calls from unidentified persons, who allegedly claimed that he was involved in a Rs 122-crore money-laundering case and had links with terrorists, according to police. Fearing legal consequences, the victim transferred around Rs 28.51 lakh into multiple bank accounts. An FIR was registered at the Latur cyber police station on July 6 under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. The accused were produced before the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Latur on Nov 1. The court remanded all six accused in police custody till Nov 6.
Police said the accused played a key role in transferring the money through multiple bank accounts on behalf of cyber criminals who impersonated police, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and threatened the retired official with arrest in a fabricated money laundering case. Latur superintendent of police Amol Tambe said the arrests followed a technical investigation into the financial transactions and the bank accounts used to route the defrauded money. We are also tracing the money trail to identify the ultimate beneficiaries and establish the involvement of other members in the cyber fraud network,” he said. Latur cyber police inspector Vivekanand Patil said, “The callers claimed that, as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directives, the money in his bank accounts had to be transferred for verification as part of the investigation.
“The six accused allegedly operated mule bank accounts through which the money defrauded from the victim was routed. Their role in facilitating the financial transactions is being investigated. The fraudsters threatened him with arrest, imprisonment and social disgrace, keeping him under sustained psychological pressure. To make their claims appear genuine, they allegedly used a fabricated ED letter and convinced the retired BSNL official that transferring his funds was necessary to establish his innocence. During the investigation, police analysed the financial transactions and traced the bank accounts allegedly used to receive and transfer the money, leading them to the six suspects. Police sought their custody for further investigations in the case.