New Delhi: MBA grad, CA aspirant, pujari among 8 held for ₹14-crore 'digital arrest' scam with elderly NRI couple in Delhi
Investigation into one of India’s most damaging “digital arrest” frauds has revealed a pattern of educated men using their smarts and tech knowhow to scam elderly people in particular.
The eight perpetrators arrested so far for the ₹14.8-crore scam with a couple in Delhi’s upscale Greater Kailash locality come from varied backgrounds and places, but came together through shadowy social media networks and international handlers operating from Cambodia and Nepal, police said.
The police from the national capital have arrested eight men across three states, between January 15 and 21. These men include an aspiring Chartered Accountant who also runns an NGO; an IT diploma holder who studied from New Zealand; a Varanasi-based pujari (Hindu priest), an MBA graduate, and a private tutor.
Divyang Patel, 30, a BCom graduate who cleared his CA Intermediate exam, ran an organisation called Floresta Foundation and a business advisory firm, was the first to be arrested. His NGO existed largely on paper, with no genuine charitable activity, but served a specific criminal purpose — facilitating the receipt and transfer of illicit funds, as per the probe. Krutik Shitole, 26, who holds a diploma in information technology from New Zealand, worked alongside Patel. Both were arrested on January 15 from Gujarat.
Arun Kumar Tiwari, 45, a BA graduate working as a private data-entry operator, was picked up the following day from Uttar Pradesh.
On January 19, the Delhi police arrested Mahavir Sharma, 27, also a BCom graduate.
A day later came the arrest of Pradyuman Tiwari, a priest who performs private pujas for devotees in the Hindu holy town of Varanasi.
The final three arrests occurred on January 21. Ankit Mishra, a BCom graduate who previously worked as a sales executive, was taken into custody along with Bhupender Kumar Mishra, 37, an MBA holder employed in a private job, and Aadesh Kumar Singh, 36, who provided private tuition and coaching, though his educational details were not clear yet. These arrests were made in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.
According to investigators, these men worked as facilitators, arranging and using “mule” accounts to route defrauded funds “on the instructions of an international syndicate”. Police seized seven mobile phones and chequebooks during the operation. Further investigation is underway to identify other conspirators in the network, police told news agencies.
The victims in this case — Om Taneja, 81, and his wife Indira, 77 — endured what police described as one of the most disturbing digital arrest cases in recent memory.
The couple, who returned from the United States in 2016, were kept under constant video surveillance for more than two weeks.
The nightmare began in December when Indira received a call claiming her number would be disconnected due to “obscene calls”.
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