Latur: Six people have been arrested for allegedly cheating a 66-year-old retired Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) employee of Rs 28.51 lakh through a digital arrest scam involving impersonation of law enforcement and central investigative agency officials.
According to police, the accused contacted the victim and falsely accused him of being involved in a Rs 122-crore money laundering case with alleged terrorist links. They reportedly posed as police personnel, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials to establish credibility and intimidate him.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened the senior citizen with imprisonment and public embarrassment, keeping him under sustained psychological pressure. To make their claims appear legitimate, they also presented a forged ED document and instructed him to transfer funds for verification, purportedly citing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
Believing their claims, the victim transferred a total of Rs 28,51,999 into multiple bank accounts.
Following his complaint, Latur cyber police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Investigators subsequently examined technical evidence and financial transactions to trace the alleged fraud network.
The operation led to the arrest of six suspects identified as Amit Shivnarayan Dubey (40), Anurag Ganeshdatta Mishra (27), Shivam Madhavsingh Thakur (24), Ankit Mansingh Yadav (32), Kunalsingh Narendrasingh Rawat (30) and Shivkumar Narendrasingh (30).
Three accused were from Madhya Pradesh, two from Delhi and one from Gurugram. Police said all six were already in Bhopal Police custody in connection with another case.
The accused were presented before a Latur court on November 1 and remanded to police custody until November 6 for further investigation.
