Mumbai: Six people have been arrested by Mumbai cyber police for their alleged involvement in a digital arrest scam that targeted a 68-year-old retired professional from Dahisar and resulted in a loss of Rs 1.12 crore.
The investigation began after the victim approached the authorities following a two-week ordeal in which fraudsters allegedly posed as government and law enforcement officials and kept him under constant pressure.
The victim was initially contacted by a caller claiming to represent a telecom authority. He was allegedly told that his Aadhaar details had been linked to illegal activity and that the matter would be handed over to the crime branch.
He was subsequently connected to a person identifying himself as Vijay Khanna, who allegedly claimed to be a police officer. Khanna told the victim that his identity documents had surfaced in an investigation involving money laundering and illegal SIM cards in Delhi.
The fraudsters allegedly used threats of arrest and embarrassment to frighten the senior citizen. During video calls on WhatsApp, they reportedly used police insignia to make the interaction appear genuine.
The victim was allegedly questioned about his finances and pressured into breaking his fixed deposits and transferring the money. He was also told not to discuss the matter with his family, with the scammers allegedly warning that his relatives could face legal action.
The accused reportedly sent fabricated documents through WhatsApp and demanded regular location updates from the victim. The deception continued until his daughter came to know about the transactions and realised that he had been targeted.
A complaint was subsequently made through the cybercrime helpline, following which an FIR was registered at the North Cyber Police station.
During the probe, officers followed the trail of the transferred funds and found that part of the money had reached a bank account belonging to a gold trading company.
Investigators traced two mobile numbers associated with directors of the firm. Police alleged that the SIM cards connected to these numbers were being handled by Tariq Momin, who was arrested during the investigation.
Police suspect that Momin was involved in arranging bank accounts that were used to move the fraud proceeds. Rakesh Jain, one of the directors of the gold trading company, was also taken into custody.
The investigation further led police to Shakar Tyagi, an operations manager at a private bank. According to investigators, Momin allegedly handed over phones containing the relevant SIM cards to Tyagi, allowing OTPs to be received for transactions.
Another accused, G Gohel, an IIT Delhi graduate and web developer, was allegedly involved with Tyagi in making these phones available to other members of the network. Police also noted that Gohel had been booked in a separate cheating case by Bandra police in 2021.
Investigators traced one of the phones to Chintan Desai, who allegedly carried it from Mumbai to Delhi and later travelled to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the money routed through the gold trading firm’s account was subsequently withdrawn or moved into other accounts linked to the suspected network.
Tariq Momin, Rakesh Jain, Shakar Tyagi, G Gohel, Chintan Desai and Ajay Sharma have been arrested. Police are investigating the role of other individuals who may have been involved in handling the money and facilitating the fraudulent transactions.
