3 BTech students held for digital arrest of retd commerce ministry official

The victim learned about the fraud only after the fraudsters demanded an additional ₹20 lakh and he came across a news article about digital arrest

Three B.Tech students from Ghaziabad were arrested in connection with a cyber fraud case involving an 84-year-old man who was put under digital arrest from September 9 to 15 and duped of ₹1.70 crore in Noida, police said on Friday.

Police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act, at the Cybercrime Branch police station.(Representative photo)

The suspects have been identified as Prince Kumar, a resident of Madhepura in Bihar; Vidyasagar Yadav, a resident of Darbhanga; and Avnish Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, all in their late 20s. Police added that they were studying B.Tech at a private college in Ghaziabad.

“With the help of electronic surveillance, three suspects from Bihar were arrested on Thursday, who were involved in providing their bank accounts to fraudsters,” said Vinod Kumar, station house officer (SHO), cybercrime branch police station.

SHO Kumar said, “During the investigation, the suspects revealed that they were getting 10 percent of the transferred money. They were tasked with withdrawing the money from their bank accounts and transferring it to other accounts after taking their commission.”

Prince received ₹2 lakh, Avnish ₹72,000, and Vidyasagar ₹57,000 into their bank accounts, said police, adding that six complaints were filed against their bank accounts on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) by police from different states.

“An investigation is underway to nab other suspects with whom these three students were in contact. Till Friday, ₹17.48 lakh has been frozen, and investigation is underway to identify the money trail,” said SHO Kumar.

On September 16, a retired deputy director of the Ministry of Communications approached the Cybercrime Branch police station and filed a complaint alleging that he was put under digital arrest for a week after receiving threats that he was involved in money laundering. In two transactions, the victim transferred ₹1.70 crore and learned about the fraud only after the fraudsters demanded an additional ₹20 lakh and he came across a news article about digital arrest.

Police registered a case under sections of 308(2) extortion,318(4) cheating, and 319(2) cheating by personation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and under the IT Act, at the Cybercrime Branch police station.