The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has finally arrested the accused in the cybercrime racket from Bengaluru. According to a report by Press Trust India, STF Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)
Navneet Singh informed that the gang members, posing as law enforcement officers, looted over Rs 87 lakh from people in Dehradun and Nainital districts.
The main accuser of the cybercrime gang, Kiran Kumar KS, was arrested in Bengaluru. He was a resident of Yelahanka.
The gang members were running a racket, where they took people under digital arrest via voice or video calls on WhatsApp and demanded money in return.
Digital arrest is a modicum of cybercrime in which criminals impersonate as an official, usually law enforcement agency or bank manager, scare victims via video or voice calls by fabricating fraud stories or rules and then ask for money in exchange. The fraudsters force victims to stay on calls for hours or in some cases days – which is why calls digital arrest – and pressure them to transfer money to prove their innocence or avoid immediate action.
The PTI report added that a total of 24 complaints have been registered across several states against the bank account used by the accused, and investigators found suspicious transactions of over Rs 9 crore linked to this account.
According to the report, the investigation agency came into action following the complaint by a Dehradun resident, in which he was digitally arrested in August-September and forced him to deposit Rs 59 lakh into various bank accounts.
Upon his complaint, the investigation agency found that out of Rs 59 lakh, Rs 41 lakh was transferred to a Yes Bank account on August 30 in the name of Rajeshwari GAK Enterprises.
The address linked to the account was traced to Bengaluru, and the mobile number was found to be registered under the name Kiran Kumar. He was questioned in Bengaluru, and based on evidence seized from him—bank documents, a mobile phone, the SIM card used in the fraud, and a laptop—he was arrested. The investigation further showed that Kiran Kumar has been involved in several earlier cases registered at the Delhi and Kumaon Cyber Police Stations, along with cases in other states as well.
