Odisha Police apprehend cyber criminal in Telangana in 'digital arrest' fraud

Bhubaneswar, Nov 28 (IANS) The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested a cyber criminal from Telangana in a case of digital arrest cyber fraud, an official said on Thursday.

The accused identified as Abdul Saleem (33) is a resident of Yellammagutta in Nizamabad area of Telangana.

He was apprehended over the allegations of Ashok Kumar Behera, a senior citizen of Berhampur in Ganjam district.

Behera in his complaint has alleged that the accused fraudster duped him of Rs 1 crore by threatening digital arrest.

"The fraudsters impersonated themselves as officers of TRAI and police personnel from Mumbai Cyber Crime Division and asked about one unknown mobile number linked to his Aadhaar card. They accused that the same number had been used for procurement of illegal arms, drugs and for originating threatening calls to many people in Maharashtra for which he would have been punished under appropriate sections of law for a minimum period of three to seven years," said a senior Crime Branch official on Thursday.

The accused fraudsters allegedly made a video call to the victim through WhatsApp and put pressure on him saying that he is under 'digital arrest'.

"They asked him to transfer all of his money to their given account for verification and later on the entire amount would be reverted back to his account. Under immense mental pressure, he finally transferred all his savings amounting to the tune of Rs 1,00,00,000 to the fraudsters account in two transactions,” added the CB official.

When the victim found the money transferred to the accused's account was not reverted to his account as promised, he lodged a complaint with the crime branch.

The investigating team after analyzing the transaction details and working upon other digital evidence camped at Nizamabad and arrested the accused Abdul from Nizamabad. The accused will be brought on transit remand to Odisha for further probe into the matter.

"On verification of his passport, it has been ascertained that the accused had been to Saudi Arabia two times in 2017 and in 2024. From NCRP Samanvaya portal it has been ascertained that the same account is involved in more than 13 cyber incidents throughout the country," added the official.

--IANS

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