In a shocking case of cybercrime, Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested seven men for impersonating officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to “digitally arrest” a 60-year-old NGO worker, Sharad Chand, and extort over Rs1 crore.
The accused tricked Chand into believing he was under investigation for a suspicious Rs2.8 crore transaction and would be prosecuted unless he complied with their instructions.
The fraud began on May 6, when the victim received a phone call from someone claiming to be an ED officer. Over the next few days, the scammers escalated their con, conducting fake virtual court hearings via WhatsApp, complete with impersonated judges and lawyers. The elaborate ruse lasted nearly a month.
According to Shahjahanpur SP Rajesh Dwivedi, during these staged hearings, Chand was subjected to psychological pressure, made to believe he was digitally detained, and ordered not to contact anyone. Under this duress, he transferred Rs1.04 crore across 40 bank accounts—allegedly belonging to nine fake advocates.
The accused have been identified as:
Sachin
Prashant
Gautam Singh
Sandeep Kumar
Syed Saif
Aryan Sharma
Pawan Yadav
All are aged between 20 and 28 years, and police believe they were part of a larger cybercrime ring. During the investigation, authorities found Rs9 crore in suspicious transactions linked to one of the accused’s accounts, which is now under scrutiny.
The accused have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS):
Section 318 (cheating)
Section 319 (impersonation)
Section 204 (impersonating government officials)
Along with Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act.