In a significant breakthrough, Jharsuguda Police arrested four individuals involved in a sophisticated digital arrest scam, defrauding an elderly couple of Rs34 lakh. The accused, identified as Shahrukh Umar Khatik , Sharad Sukalal Mali , Malek Shahrukh Hanif Isha from Gujarat, and Rahil Seikh from Maharashtra, were apprehended after an extensive five-month investigation led by the local cybercrime unit.
The scam was uncovered after Jagdish Karabhai Bhardwaj, a resident of Jharsuguda, filed a complaint at the Sadar Police Station on May 14, 2024. The gang had targeted the elderly couple by posing as high-ranking officers from the Crime Branch, claiming that the couple’s bank accounts had been flagged for involvement in a money laundering case. To avoid arrest, the fraudsters demanded that the couple provide their property details and made them transfer money in two installments — Rs20 lakh and Rs14 lakh — over a period of several days.
Superintendent of Police (Jharsuguda) Smit P Parmar revealed that the gang operated by using Skype calls to intimidate the victims with the false concept ofdigital arrestThe victims were coerced into transferring the funds via popular UPI payment platforms like Google Pay and PhonePe, which were then routed through multiple bank accounts to avoid detection.
In the course of the investigation, police traced the fraudulent transactions and successfully froze Rs17 lakh of the stolen amount. They also recovered Rs2 lakh in cash, 20 mobile phones, three laptops, and three computer systems from the gang’s operation base in Surat, Gujarat. Additionally, Rs14 lakh was returned to the complainant’s bank account.
The arrested individuals are believed to be part of a larger criminal network with a reach spanning across multiple states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Police officials noted that the operation employed complex digital tools to make it difficult for authorities to track the movement of funds.
IG Himanshu Kumar Lal emphasized that the concept of “digital arrest” is a fraudulent tactic used by cybercriminals worldwide to scare and exploit vulnerable individuals, especially the elderly. He urged the public to be cautious when receiving unsolicited calls that threaten legal action and to report such cases immediately to the authorities.
This case underscores the growing sophistication of digital crimes targeting unsuspecting individuals and highlights the need for constant vigilance, especially among elderly citizens, who are often the primary targets of such scams.
