DEHRADUN: A 25-year-old man from Agra has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a 58-year-old professor from Nainital district of Rs 47 lakh. The victim was kept under a harrowing 18-day-long digital arrest, during which he even sought permission to visit his university and have food within the stipulated time, officials said on Thursday.
DSP Ankush Mishra claimed that this was the "longest period of a digital arrest he's known in Uttarakhand". "One of the suspects, Aman Kushwaha, who handled the mule account, was held on Wednesday in a joint operation by Uttarakhand police's special task force (STF) and state cyber police. Efforts are underway to arrest the main accused, who impersonated a CBI official, along with others involved, and recover the victim's lost savings," said Mishra.
Investigating officer inspector Arun Kumar said, "The professor (name withheld on request), who lived alone and had limited social interactions, was unaware of cybercrime tactics. Fearful and isolated, he obeyed the scammers' commands, even seeking their permission to attend work or eat."
The state cyber-crime police said the ordeal began on Dec 5, when the professor, set to retire in two years, received a call from an unknown number with the ISD code +670 (Timor Leste), later identified as a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call.
"The scammer, claiming to be a CBI officer, falsely accused him of being involved in a money laundering case and placed him under digital house arrest, warning of legal consequences if he spoke to anyone or stepped outside," said Mishra.
He added, "The fraudsters manipulated the professor into downloading Skype and keeping the camera on at all times for monitoring. They then coerced him into transferring Rs 47 lakh across six transactions under the false pretence of returning the money after an investigation. When the scammers stopped responding on Dec 23, the professor finally confided in a friend and reported the case to the police. A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and IT Act."
Notably, Uttarakhand has seen a sharp rise in digital arrest cases over the past two years. While only one case was reported by the state cyber police in 2023, the number surged to 15 in 2024, with victims collectively losing around Rs 13 crore. In one instance, a man from Dehradun was defrauded of Rs 3 crore, while another from the same city lost Rs 2.27 crore.
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