In the high-profile “digital arrest” cyber fraud case, the cybercrime cell of the Chandigarh Police has arrested three more individuals, bringing the total number of arrests to five. The case involves an elaborate scam in which an elderly retired colonel was defrauded of Rs 3.41 crore.
The recent arrests include Avtar Singh (21), Amritpal Singh (25), and Sunil Kumar (24), all residents of Sirsa, Haryana. They were apprehended for their alleged role in facilitating the fraudulent transactions. Previously, Mahak Yadav (25) from Mohindergarh, Haryana, and Sachin Sharma (23) from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, had been arrested in connection with the case.
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According to police sources, Amritpal and Sunil persuaded Avtar to open an IndusInd Bank account, which was later used to receive Rs 9.40 lakh of the defrauded amount. The suspects withdrew the money in cash, kept a 1% commission, and transferred the rest to Yadav and Sharma.
The victim, 82-year-old Dalip Singh Bajwa, and his 74-year-old wife, Ranvinder Kaur, residents of Sector 2A, were targeted on March 18. The fraud began with a call from an international number claiming Singh’s involvement in a money laundering case linked to jailed businessman Naresh Goyal. The scammers used forged documents and threats of arrest to keep Singh under constant video surveillance, effectively placing him under a “digital arrest.”
Investigations are ongoing, and more arrests are expected as the police continue to trace the fraud’s wider network.