Digital Arrest: Odisha Crime Branch Nabs Telangana Man For Rs 1 Cr Fraud

Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police has arrested a man from Telangana for allegedly duping a Berhampur resident of Rs one crore by threatening him with ‘digital arrest’.

The accused has been identified as Abdul Saleem (33) of Nizambad in Telangana.

The Crime Branch said in a statement on Thursday that some fraudsters, impersonating TRAI and police personnel from Mumbai Cyber Crime Division, contacted one Ashok Kumar Behera (69) of Berhampur some days ago. They told Behera that the mobile number linked to his Aadhaar card has been used for procurement of illegal arms and drugs.

It said the callers also told Behera that the telephone number has been used to issue threat calls to some people in Maharashtra. They threatened that Behera would be imprisoned for a period ranging from three to seven years due to the alleged illegal activities.

They also threatened to put Behera under ‘digital arrest’ and asked him to transfer his savings to their bank accounts for verification. Scared over the threat, Behera transferred Rs one crore in two phases to a bank account as suggested by the fraudsters.

Behera lodged a complaint with the police after the callers did not return the money. Based on his complaint, the CB  launched a probe after registering a case in this regard.

The CB officials successfully identified the Telangana man and arrested him after verifying the bank details and other documents furnished by the complainant.

They have seized a mobile phone, three Indian SIM cards, one Saudi Arabia SIM card, a bank passbook, passport, Aadhaar card, PAN card, six debit cards and a credit card.

The accused would be produced in a local court in Telangana and brought to Odisha on transit remand, said the CB statement.

The CB officials, meanwhile, revealed that the accused had visited Saudi Arabia twice in 2017 and 2024.