Uttar Pradesh man arrested for Rs 4.15 crore digital arrest scam targeting Chennai senior citizen

CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai Police has arrested a man from Uttar Pradesh for orchestrating an elaborate ‘digital arrest’ scam that defrauded a 73-year-old denizen of Rs 4.15 crore.

The accused has been identified as Manish Kumar (23), a resident of Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh.

The case came to light when the victim, S Srivatsan of Mylapore, filed a complaint stating that he was targeted by a cybercrime gang posing as officers from the Mumbai Crime Department. The fraud began on September 26 this year, when the scammers contacted Srivatsan via a WhatsApp call.

They falsely accused him of illegal activities linked to a SIM card registered in his name. They presented forged documents issued by top agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Interpol, and even the Supreme Court.

Under the guise of a RBI Verification process, they coerced him into transferring large sums of money from his bank account to various other accounts. Between September 25 and October 5, the victim transferred Rs 4.15 crore.

After realising he had been duped, Srivatsan filed a complaint with the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner. During the investigation, the trail led them to Manish Kumar in UP. A special team rushed to Jhansi and, with the assistance of local police, arrested him on October 28, and seized two mobile phones, an Aadhaar card, ATM cards, and several bank passbooks used to channel the illicit funds.

Manish is part of a larger gang that impersonated government officials to cheat multiple victims. He is also suspected of being involved in similar frauds using social media and fake online job offers.

After bringing him to Chennai on October 30 he was remanded to judicial custody.