The Enforcement Directorate has busted an international cybercrime syndicate that allegedly defrauded Vardhman Group chairman S.P. Oswal of ₹7 crore through a digital arrest scheme. Operating across multiple countries, the network intimidated the industrialist by impersonating senior Central Bureau of Investigation officials and presenting forged Supreme Court documents. On September 28, agency officials arrested a key handler, Sohel Akhtar alias Raju, in Kolkata to unearth further operational links behind the cross-border operation.
Industrialist Coerced with Forged Warrants
The targeting of Oswal, a Padma Bhushan awardee associated with Vardhman Textiles, Vardhman Holdings, Vardhman Acrylics, and Nimbua Greenfield, began in August 2023. Syndicate members contacted him through English-language video calls to project official authority and assert that legal proceedings were underway against him and his enterprise. To escalate the pressure, the perpetrators sent him fabricated Supreme Court orders and arrest warrants, threatening him with public humiliation and severe legal consequences.
After subjecting Oswal to sustained intimidation, the callers changed their approach, pretending to sympathize with his situation and offering an informal resolution to halt the fabricated inquiry. Under the duress of this simulated digital arrest, the industrialist transferred ₹7 crore across several bank accounts designated by the fraudsters.
Money Laundering Network and Foreign Operations
Investigators traced the illicit proceeds back to accounts registered under two shell entities, Rigglo Ventures Private Limited and Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics. The accounts tied to Frozenman were operated by Roomi Kalita of Guwahati and Arpit Rathore of Kanpur, both of whom were taken into custody by the agency in December 2025. Akhtar, the operative detained in Kolkata by the Jalandhar team, functioned as the primary handler for the accounts linked to Rigglo Ventures.
The syndicate maintained a broad international infrastructure involving mule bank accounts, mobile hardware, and digital assets spanning Nepal, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vulnerable individuals were lured with false promises of employment or credit facilities and persuaded to open bank accounts that were converted into mules for illicit fund transfers. Mobile devices assigned to these accounts were preloaded with an application known as AMMFORWARD, allowing overseas conspirators in Nepal to mirror SMS messages and one-time passwords in real time to siphon funds instantly.
Rathore allegedly supplied domestic bank accounts directly to cybercriminals operating out of Cambodia and Vietnam, drawing large cryptocurrency commissions routed through a Binance wallet. To bypass banking compliance triggers, the stolen funds were broken into smaller increments ranging between ₹2 lakh and ₹5 lakh, moved across mule accounts, and promptly withdrawn in cash. Operational communication was coordinated through encrypted private messaging services.
Custody and Legal Proceedings
Following his arrest in Kolkata, Akhtar was secured on transit remand and produced before the Special PMLA Court in Jalandhar, which remanded him to ED custody until October 6. The enforcement action originates from an FIR filed at the Ludhiana Cyber Crime Police Station, an investigation that encompasses nine other digital arrest cases linked to the same criminal module.
The central agency has so far provisionally attached assets valued at ₹1.76 crore connected to the fraud. A formal prosecution complaint stands filed before the court against Kalita, Rathore, and their associates. The victim, who helped establish the Ludhiana Stock Exchange in 1983, received the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his contributions to Indian industry and social programs.
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