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Three fraudsters were arrested for allegedly duping a senior citizen of Rs 25 lakh following a 'digital arrest', police said on Monday.
The three accused have been identified as Rahul Verma, Shantanu Richoriya and Arjun Singh. According to Delhi Police, a complaint of Mahender Jain Resident of Raj Nagar, Palam Colony, Delhi was received through NCRP regarding digital arrest and duping of Rs 25 Lakhs by the unknown fraudsters. He alleged that he received a video call on WhatsApp on March 21, 2025, from a person claiming to be Sanjay, a Police Inspector from the Crime Branch of Nashik Police. The caller informed him that his Aadhaar card was being misused to create a fraudulent debit/credit card in Canara Bank. The caller showed a photocopy of the card and alleged that it was being used for money laundering by owner of a big airline company, police said. The victim was threatened with police action, after which he deposited all his savings and fixed deposits, sold his wife's jewellery, and transferred money to the alleged persons through Paytm and RTGS. He transferred approximately Rs 25 lakh. After a preliminary enquiry, a case under sections 318(2)/61(2)/3(5) BNS was registered at PS Cyber, South West district, and the investigation was taken up. Police said the team identified the accused operating from different states using technical surveillance, digital footprints, and money trail analysis. "The suspects used WhatsApp with fake identities, conducted frauds from hotel rooms in Delhi, and dealt with mule account holders from across India who were brought in person to the hotels." After sustained analysis, a raid was conducted in Paharganj, Delhi, resulting in the arrest of three accused. During the arrest, the SIM Card used in committing the offence was recovered. Three mobile phones used in committing the cyber crimes, along with four SIM Cards, four passbooks, and three cheque books of different banks, were recovered from their possession. On interrogation, it was revealed that the accused Rahul first supplied his account to accused persons. Later seeing a profit, he started working in the nexus and started hiring/supplying account to the nexus. The accused persons used to facilitate and handle the mule accounts holders in Delhi and contacted international operators through whatsapp in order to hoodwink the law enforcement agencies and further transferred duped money in those accounts. Secret groups were made on Whatsapp and operated through fake whatsapp numbers. So far 7-8 mule accounts have been traced to them. The other accused persons have been identified and raids are on to nab them, police said. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
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