New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested four persons for their involvement in cases related to bogus digital arrests of people with the aim to cheat them of their life savings. The Government of India has made it clear that there is nothing as a ‘digital arrest’ under the law.
The CBI has launched search operations across the country as part of its Operation Chakra-V, aimed at cracking down on gangs involved in digital arrest scams. Of the four persons arrested, two are from Mumbai. The remaining are from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.
“The CBI has adopted a multi-pronged approach in investigating digital arrest cases, with special emphasis on dismantling the infrastructure behind such offenses. In recent months, the CBI has registered multiple cases of digital arrests. In this context, the CBI took over the digital arrest case on the request of the Government of Rajasthan, originally registered at Cyber Police Station Jhunjhunu, where the victim was digitally detained for over three months by cyber-criminals posing as personnel from various law enforcement agencies. During this period, the victim was extorted 42 times. The total extortion amount was Rs 7.67 crore,” the CBI has stated in a release.
After taking over the case, the CBI conducted an in-depth investigation involving extensive data analysis and profiling. CBI employed advanced investigative techniques to identify the perpetrators. Based on the leads generated during the investigation, the CBI conducted extensive searches across twelve locations in Moradabad and Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Krishnanagar in West Bengal, leading to the arrest of the four.
According to the CBI, substantial material was recovered during these searches, including bank account details, debit cards, cheque books, deposit slips, and digital devices/evidence. The four have been sent to police custody for five days.
