The Pune Police have arrested Ganesh Suryakant Oti for allegedly defrauding a Greater Noida resident of Rs75 lakh in a “digital arrest” scam, officials said. Oti was apprehended on October 31 and brought to Greater Noida on transit remand before being sent to Luksar Jail.
According to Sudhir Kumar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, the case dates back to February 2024. The complainant, Atin Kumar Biswas of Parsvnath Edens Society, Sector Alpha 2, reported that in late January 2024, he received a call from someone posing as a Mumbai police inspector. The caller falsely claimed that Biswas had sent a parcel to Taiwan containing two kilograms of drugs.
Using fear of legal consequences, the fraudsters demanded Rs1 crore to “settle” the matter. Biswas transferred Rs75 lakh via bank accounts provided by Oti and his associates in three separate transactions between January 31 and February 3, 2024. When he realized he had been defrauded, Biswas filed a complaint through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) on February 5, 2024. The portal managed to temporarily freeze Rs21 lakh from the linked accounts.
During the investigation, police traced the transactions via RTGS and identified Oti as a key conspirator. “The accused was tracked down in Pune using technical surveillance and intelligence inputs,” said the officer.
Authorities confirmed that Rs47 lakh has so far been recovered and returned to the victim. Efforts are ongoing to recover the remaining amount and identify other members of the fraud network.
