Three in police net for digital arrest scam targeting NRI couple

New Delhi: Three people were arrested in connection with the ‘digital arrest' of an NRI doctor couple, who were cheated of nearly Rs 15 crore at their residence in Greater Kailash-II. Among the accused were two individuals who provided their bank accounts to the scammers, while the third acted as a facilitator.The accused were identified as Divyang Patel, Krutik Shitoli, residents of Vadodara, Gujarat and KS Tiwari from Prayagraj. The cops are also probing their links with China and Cambodia-based scammers.Sources added that two of the accused were arrested in Vadodara, Gujarat. Patel, who runs an NGO there, opened a mule account in the NGO's name, into which about Rs 4 crore of the defrauded money was transferred. Sources said he knowingly allowed the fraudsters to use this bank account in return for a commission. The other accused, Shitoli, acted as a facilitator, arranging and collecting bank accounts for the scam.Police said the third accused was arrested from Prayagraj. He provided another mule account, into which approximately Rs 2 crore of the cheated amount was transferred.Dr Indra Taneja (77) and her 81-year-old husband, Dr Om Taneja, were put on digital arrest from Dec 24 last year to Jan 9 at their residence in south Delhi's Greater Kailash-II. Sources said that out of the total Rs 14.8 crore, the maximum amount—Rs 4 crore—was transferred to a bank account in Gujarat's Vadodara. Police managed to put Rs 2.1 crore on hold.On Dec 26 last year, nearly Rs 2 crore was sent to Jalukbari in Assam's Guwahati, followed by consecutive transfers of Rs 2 crore each on Dec 29 and 30 to Sama Savli in Vadodara. On Jan 2, Rs 2 crore was routed to Mayur Vihar Phase-III in east Delhi, while nearly Rs 2 crore was transferred to Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai on Jan 5. Subsequent transfers included Rs 2 crore to Wazidpur in Uttar Pradesh on Jan 6, around Rs 2 crore to Moulali in Kolkata on Jan 8, and Rs 50 lakh to Uttarakhand's Belada on Jan 9.