IIT Graduate, Bank Manager Among 6 Arrested In Rs 1 Crore Digital Fraud Case

An Indian Institute of Technology graduate and a bank manager were among six persons arrested by Mumbai Cyber Police for allegedly duping a 68-year-old man of Rs 1.12 crore under the pretext of "digital arrest", an official said on Thursday.

The arrested accused have been identified as Tarik Momin, Rakesh Jain, Chintan Desai, Shakar Tyagi, G Gohel, and Ajay Sharma.

Gohel is a web developer with a BE degree from IIT Delhi and was previously booked in a 2021 cheating case, while Tyagi works as an operations manager with a private bank, the official said.

"The victim is a retired businessman from Dahisar. He was kept under digital arrest at his residence for nearly two weeks between July and August. The fraudsters initially contacted him posing as Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials, alleging his Aadhaar details were misused in a money laundering case registered in Delhi," the official said.

Subsequently, an impersonator named 'Vijay Khanna' placed him under WhatsApp video calls wearing police uniforms and displaying fake documents bearing official logos and references to the Supreme Court, the official said.

"Coerced under threat of family arrest and forced to report his location every two hours, the victim liquidated his fixed deposits and transferred Rs 1.12 crore into multiple bank accounts controlled by the gang. The crime came to light after the victim's daughter discovered the fraud and approached the cyber police," he said.

A probe by the North Cyber Police traced the money trail to a gold trading firm's bank account, the official said.

"Momin managed mule bank accounts, while firm director Rakesh Jain's registered SIM card was routed through Tyagi and Gohel to handle OTPs. Accused Chintan Desai then travelled with the linked device to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, where the stolen funds were withdrawn and siphoned off," he said.

Further probe into the syndicate's financial transactions and other operations is being led by senior inspector Pramod Kamble and inspector Sunil Lokhande under the supervision of DCP Bajrang Bansode, he added. 

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