The Tirupati district police have arrested an inter-state cybercrime gang of eight members who targeted unsuspecting citizens—particularly senior citizens—through a scheme known as “digital arrest.” The group impersonated CBI officials from Mumbai and extorted large sums by threatening victims with fabricated legal cases.
A 65-year-old resident of Tirupati received a video call from the gang, who alleged that he was involved in a Rs583 crore money-laundering case. Claiming that the inquiry would be conducted virtually, the scammers coerced him into transferring Rs80 lakh into multiple mule bank accounts. When the callers suddenly stopped responding, the victim approached the Tirupati Cyber Police.
Tirupati SP L. Subbarayudu constituted a special investigation team, which discovered that the funds had initially been moved to two accounts and then dispersed across several accounts in 14 states, many linked to gaming app users.
The arrested accused were identified as:
Dande Kranti Kumar and Nimmala Pavan Kumar (Anantapur)
Mane Koti Babu and G. Gautam (Hyderabad)
P. Srinivas (Rajahmundry)
M. Chandrasekhar Reddy, Kodela Sivasankar, and N. Prashanth Reddy (Ballari, Karnataka)
Police froze Rs2.5 lakh found in two joint accounts connected to the scam.
The investigation revealed that Koti Babu, believed to be one of the key operatives, had traveled to Cambodia for a 24-day cybercrime training programme. During this time, he connected with Daniel from Haryana, Teon from China, and a suspected criminal network known only as ‘D’. He reportedly persuaded local youths to share their bank details for use as mule accounts.
Special teams are now searching for the main accused, Mahamud of Yousufguda (Hyderabad), who remains absconding.
During a press conference, the Tirupati SP warned senior citizens against responding to such digital arrest threats, and urged the public not to allow their bank accounts to be misused for illegal transactions.
