The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three accused persons following searches at seven locations across Odisha and Rajasthan in connection with a “digital arrest” scam case.

The accused have been identified as Bibekananda Dixit and Jayant Kumar Acharya from Balasore, Odisha; and Kanhaiya Lal from Nagaur, Rajasthan.

The agency registered the case on March 25, after the orders of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The victim is a retired public servant who was coerced into transferring ₹2.07 crore under the threat of digital arrest.

Elderly couple in Bengaluru duped of ₹3.17 crore in ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud

“The investigation revealed that the defrauded funds were routed into a bank account opened in the name of a trust. Two accused have been arrested from Balasore, Odisha, while the third accused was apprehended from Nagaur, Rajasthan. They were actively involved in layering and transferring proceeds of crime from the victim through multiple accounts,” said the agency.

Recently, the agency arrested Shankar Pansari alias Shankar Rajput, who belongs to Karnal in Haryana from Rajkot in Gujarat in another “digital arrest” cyber fraud case. The CBI re-registered that case earlier instituted by the Cyber Crime unit in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, on a Supreme Court directive.

CBI arrests accused in digital arrest case

The accused had forced a senior citizen into transferring ₹25.65 lakh to two different bank accounts under the threat of digital arrest. The victim received intimidating calls from unknown persons impersonating officials of security and counter-terrorism agencies.

The callers falsely claimed that her bank account had been used in terrorism-related activities and threatened her with arrest and seizure of her property. They also shared a fabricated attachment order.