Delhi: 2 held for duping retired govt employee of Rs 14 lakh in digital arrest scam

Two men were arrested for allegedly duping a retired government employee of Rs 14 lakh by posing as cybercrime officials and threatening him with a fabricated digital arrest in north Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.

Banshi Lal and Prem Kumar, both 20 years old and currently pursuing their graduation, were arrested after Kailash Kumar Meena (57) filed a complaint stating that he received a video call from a man claiming to be a cybercrime officer from Mumbai, he said.

“The caller falsely accused him of being involved in a cyber fraud and warned that police were en route to arrest him. Under duress, the complainant transferred Rs 14 lakh to a bank account provided by the caller,” a senior police officer said.

A case was registered on April 22 at the North Cyber Police Station and an investigation was launched. Police conducted a detailed analysis of call data, money trails, and access logs from various digital platforms.

The accused frequently changed locations to avoid detection, but continued mobile surveillance helped the police zero in on their presence in Barmer in Rajasthan.

A raid was conducted on June 15, leading to the arrest of Banshi Lal. Based on his interrogation, his associate Prem Kumar was also nabbed from the same village, he added.

“During questioning, Banshi Lal revealed that he had opened a bank account and handed over the linked mobile number and internet banking details to Prem Kumar for Rs 8,000. Prem Kumar, in turn, provided this account to a key conspirator, Satpal Bishnoi, in exchange for Rs 15,000,” the DCP said.

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Bishnoi used the account to transfer the cheated money and instructed Banshi Lal to withdraw the cash using cheques to avoid CCTV surveillance at ATMs.

Prem Kumar further disclosed that he had also provided his bank account and that of another associate, Chinnu Lal, to Bishnoi for similar payments.

Two mobile phones with SIM cards used in the fraud have been recovered from the arrested accused.

Preliminary data analysis suggests Prem Kumar played a central role in supplying the bank accounts to a wider gang network.