Digital arrest scam: Andhra Pradesh police arrest five cybercrooks and seize cash and gold from accused

VIZIANAGARAM: The Vizianagaram district police arrested five persons from Maharashtra involved in a case related to money extortion in the name of digital arrest. The police recovered Rs10 lakh and Rs9.2 lakh worth of gold jewellery from the gang.
Superintendent of Police, Vizianagaram, Vakul Jindal, on Monday said a retired lecturer in Vizianagaram town fell victim to a “digital arrest” scam and lost Rs40 lakh in October this year.
Posing as police personnel, the cybercrooks claimed a parcel in her name had been sent somewhere, containing some narcotics. Through video calls and threats of arrest, the fraudsters manipulated her into transferring funds to various accounts.
The police managed to freeze Rs20 lakh in transactions after the victim lodged a complaint of being defrauded within the golden hour.
Inspector of One-Town Police Station S Srinivas and his team investigated the case based on the transactions of the money in various accounts and they nabbed M Tariq Bhat, a native of Jammu and Kashmir.
The accused confessed that he sold his bank account to some cybercriminals. Based on the clue, the police visited Maharashtra and nabbed Chandrakanth Suthar, Klevin Glen, Nitin Nandalal Saroj, and Saif Talamee Damand. The police seized Rs10 lakh cash and Rs9.2 lakh worth of gold from the accused, Vakul Jindal added.