Times News NetworkPanchkula: Police arrested another person in a major cyber fraud case involving a “digital arrest” scam, in which a 70-year-old man was duped of over Rs 80 lakh. The accused, Pathukar Murli Krishna, a resident of Hyderabad, was apprehended following a raid in the city.Police said he played a key role in routing the defrauded money by opening bank accounts in the name of a fake construction firm. Another accused, Saurabh Kumar from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, had been arrested earlier. His interrogation led to crucial leads in the case.According to the complaint filed by a retired supervisor from Pinjore, cyber fraudsters impersonated officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Maharashtra Police. They falsely claimed that a SIM card linked to the victim’s Aadhaar was involved in money laundering and financial fraud.The fraudsters intimidated the victim and kept him under “digital arrest,” maintaining constant vigil and systematically breaking his confidence. They forced him to transfer Rs 80.09 lakh in multiple transactions to bank accounts provided by them.A case was registered on Jan 19 under relevant sections of BNS. During the probe, police traced a suspicious account linked to a firm named GSR Construction and Developer in Hyderabad, where a major portion of Rs 62 lakh was initially transferred. Acting on this lead, a police team conducted a raid and arrested Murli Krishna on May 2.During interrogation, the accused confessed to creating the fake company using forged rent agreements and partnership deeds to legitimise illegal transactions. Police recovered fake documents and agreements from his possession. He was produced in court on May 3 and remanded in judicial custody.DCP (Crime) Amrinder Singh said efforts are on to trace and arrest other members of the racket and dismantle the network behind the fraud. MSID:: 130799826 413 |
