Gandhinagar: Three men — Parth Patel, Mehul Chavda, and Ronil Vekariya — have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a large-scale cyberfraud racket that duped victims across India. The accused allegedly impersonated officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and other central investigative agencies, placing victims under so-called “digital arrest.”
According to the Cyber Excellence Centre of the CID (Crime), the trio pretended to be officers from the TRAI, CBI, RBI, FEMA, and SEBI. They would contact victims, claiming that their Aadhaar cards were linked to criminal cases and that FIRs had been filed against them.
The victims were then ordered to stay home and remain isolated — a tactic referred to as “digital arrest.” During prolonged WhatsApp video calls, the accused coerced their victims into transferring huge sums of money under the guise of clearing investigations.
In one instance, a single victim lost Rs11.42 crore, which was funneled through multiple bank accounts. Investigators discovered that these accounts were procured from individuals and their details shared via Telegram groups run by cyber syndicates based in Dubai.
One account, under the name Euro Fresh General Trading, received Rs48 lakh and was opened using credentials from Kerala. Police believe the same network carried out at least five similar scams across Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Telangana, with a total fraud value exceeding Rs20 crore.
During the arrests, officials recovered three mobile phones and Rs3.31 lakh in cash. The probe revealed that the gang used a portion of the stolen money to buy gold worth Rs2.9 crore, while the rest was transferred to foreign handlers via RTGS.
Authorities are now tracing the larger network and its international links as the investigation continues.
