Rajkot police have arrested two more accused from Karnal, Haryana in connection with the high-profile digital arrest fraud case, raising the total number of arrests in the case to 16. The accused have been identified as Shankar Rajput (27) and Shubham Raghuvirsinh (30).
The case involves a 76-year-old Rajkot resident who was coerced into paying Rs 1.14 crore after cybercriminals falsely “digitally arrested” him. The fraudsters claimed his mobile number was being used for child pornography, online gambling, and cyber terrorism and threatened him with jail and harm to his daughters living abroad.
According to police, Shubham, who worked as a sales manager at a private bank, helped open a bank account in Shankar’s name, which was then used to receive roughly Rs 1 crore siphoned from the victim. The funds were later withdrawn and transferred across multiple accounts, demonstrating a sophisticated financial fraud network.
The victim first received a call on October 29 from someone posing as a telecom company official, alleging misuse of his mobile number. When he sought verification, he was connected to an impersonator posing as Police Sub-Inspector Shankar Patil via WhatsApp video call. During the call, the impersonator—dressed in a police uniform—demanded personal information, including his Aadhaar card, and falsely claimed his Aadhaar had been used in multiple illegal bank accounts.
Authorities said the cybercriminals kept the elderly victim under digital confinement for over a week, manipulating him into transferring money under duress. The Rajkot City Cybercrime police continue to investigate the syndicate’s network and other potential victims.
