Jaipur, October 30: The Central Cyber Police Station has arrested Kiran Laxman Tamhane, a resident of Pune, Maharashtra, in connection with a digital arrest scam in which an elderly doctor couple from Jaipur was allegedly cheated of Rs 76 lakh, IANS reported. The accused was arrested in Thane and brought to Jaipur on a transit warrant. Four people have been arrested so far in the case.
Source: IANS via AsiaPost
According to police, the fraudsters allegedly posed as officials of the police, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), threatening the couple with arrest over alleged links to terrorist activities and money laundering. The couple received a WhatsApp call in which the callers claimed their Aadhaar cards had been misused, sent a forged NIA notice and kept them under continuous pressure through voice and video calls. Under that pressure, the couple liquidated their savings and transferred a total of Rs 76 lakh into multiple bank accounts, Nation Press reported in its account of the same police briefing.
Source: Nation Press
During the investigation, cyber police analysed the WhatsApp numbers used by the accused along with Call Detail Records, Customer Application Forms, IP Detail Records and bank statements. Police said money deposited into one account was transferred through RTGS to another account the same day and moved to a third account the following day. Based on banking records and technical evidence, police initially arrested three people from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Further investigation led police to Tamhane, identified as the first beneficiary to receive a portion of the money. Police said about Rs 50 lakh was deposited into the ICICI Bank account of his company, K.T. Multi Service Private Limited, before being transferred onward. Police alleged that Tamhane, in alleged collusion with Jigna Prathamesh Sawant (Rathod) and Anurag Maheshwari, facilitated the use of the company's bank account details, net banking credentials, chequebooks and mobile SIM cards. Police said Tamhane claimed he had shared the banking details after being offered real-estate investment opportunities and a commission. These are police allegations and claims reported from interrogation; they have not been tested in court.
The action was taken under the ongoing campaign against cybercrime, particularly digital arrest frauds, initiated on the directions of Director General of Police Rajiv Kumar Sharma, with Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime) Vijay Kumar Singh sharing details of the investigation. What happens next: cyber police are continuing the technical investigation, examining WhatsApp records, call records and banking transactions to establish the complete money trail and identify other individuals involved in the network.