Indore doctor arrested in Chandigarh ‘digital arrest’ case
The accused, Dr Hemant Kumar Kansal, allegedly allowed cybercriminals to route crores of rupees through a bank account opened in the name of his clinic, Karun Maternity and Nursing Home, Indore, in return for quick profits. According to investigators, Kansal received a commission of 1%, amounting to ₹3.85 lakh, while his account saw transactions worth ₹3.85 crore linked to multiple fraud cases.
A 60-year-old gynecologist from Indore, who is already facing a case of medical negligence after a woman died during a caesarean procedure, has now been arrested by the Chandigarh cyber crime police for his role in a high-value “digital arrest” scam.
The accused, Dr Hemant Kumar Kansal, allegedly allowed cybercriminals to route crores of rupees through a bank account opened in the name of his clinic, Karun Maternity and Nursing Home, Indore, in return for quick profits. According to investigators, Kansal received a commission of 1%, amounting to ₹3.85 lakh, while his account saw transactions worth ₹3.85 crore linked to multiple fraud cases.
Kansal’s arrest comes in connection with an FIR lodged on the complaint of Chandigarh resident Manjeet Kaur, who was duped of ₹77.42 lakh. She had received WhatsApp calls from fraudsters, impersonating crime branch officials, who claimed her Aadhaar card had been misused in a money-laundering case connected to Jet Airways CEO Naresh Goyal. To intimidate her, the callers showed forged Supreme Court orders and fake arrest warrants before coercing her into transferring money through RTGS in four tranches.
During investigation, police found that part of the cheated amount was layered into Kansal’s account at Indore. A raid was conducted, leading to his arrest. Police sources said Kansal admitted to opening the current account for a purported solar project at the behest of an associate but later allowed it to be misused by cyber fraudsters.
Another arrest in linked case
In a parallel investigation, the cyber police arrested Abhijeet Tiwari, 23, a resident of Ludhiana, for his role in another digital arrest scam. The complaint in this case was filed by Manjeet Behl, who lost her life savings of ₹1.01 crore after being duped by a caller impersonating a CBI officer. The fraudster had shown her fake government-stamped documents and a fabricated bank passbook, convincing her to transfer money into multiple accounts for “safe custody.”
Police traced the financial trail to Tiwari’s accounts. Though his father initially refused to accept police notice under Section 35(3) (notice to appear) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita BNSS 2023, Tiwari was compelled to appear before Chandigarh district court on September 11 following high court directions, where he was arrested and sent to one-day police custody.
Assets frozen
So far, Chandigarh police has managed to secure a lien amount of ₹20.16 lakh in Kansal’s case and ₹36.98 lakh in Tiwari’s case. Investigators are conducting forensic analysis of seized mobile phones and scrutinising layered transactions to identify the wider nexus.
