Rajasthan: 75-year-old man duped of Rs 23.56 lakh in 'digital arrest' scam, kingpin arrested

Jaipur, July 8 (IANS) Jaipur Cyber Crime Police have arrested the kingpin of an interstate cyber fraud gang from Bengaluru, Karnataka. This gang had duped a 75-year-old Jaipur resident of Rs 23.56 lakh by falsely accusing him of money laundering and threatening him with a so-called "digital arrest."

Earlier, police had arrested the gang's main account holder and three other accomplices. Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Shantanu Kumar said the case dates back to May 23, 2025. The elderly victim received a call from an unknown number. The caller, impersonating a Mumbai Police officer named Sanjay Kumar, falsely accused him of involvement in a money laundering case worth Rs 2.80 crore and claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued in his name.

To intensify the fear, the victim was connected to another impostor posing as a CBI officer named Rohit Kumar Gupta. The fraudsters even staged a fake court hearing via WhatsApp video call, showing a person dressed as a judge ordering the victim’s arrest.

Falling prey to the elaborate trap, the victim transferred Rs 23.56 lakh from his life savings to a bank account provided by the scammers on May 26, 2025. Following the complaint, a dedicated investigation team led by SP Shantanu Kumar and DySP Neeraj Kumar Mewani launched an intensive probe.

They discovered that on May 26 alone, nearly Rs 3 crore had been credited into the suspect account from multiple sources, and the funds were quickly siphoned off to other accounts. Acting swiftly, police arrested Suresh Kumar Jat alias Surendra, a resident of Jhunjhunu currently living in Delhi, on May 30. He was identified as the primary account holder used in the scam.

Further investigation led to the arrest of three more accomplices: Om Prakash alias Nitesh, resident of Sriganganagar; Vanshul alias Aryan alias Praveen, resident of Churu; and Bhupesh Fagadia, resident of Jhunjhunu. All three were apprehended from Sonipat Jail on a production warrant and subsequently sent to judicial custody.

During interrogation, the four revealed that the mastermind behind the operation was Sunny Kumar Sharma, 26, son of Rajkishore Sharma, originally from Haveli Kharagpur, Munger, Bihar, and currently residing in Bengaluru.

A police team comprising Sub Inspector Damodar and Constables Manoj, Suresh, and Kishan traced Sunny to Bengaluru, where he was arrested and is currently being interrogated.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the gang has executed similar digital arrest scams in multiple cities, including Chandigarh, Sonipat, Delhi (Rohini), Patna, and Bengaluru.

Multiple cases and complaints have reportedly been registered against them in these regions. Sunny Kumar Sharma is currently in police custody, and further interrogation is underway to uncover the full extent of the gang's network and prevent such cyber frauds in the future.

--IANS

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