Mumbai cyber police arrest 3 from Kozhikode

Mumbai: In a fresh incident of digital arrest, the city cyber police have arrested three persons from Kozhikode. The accused had called a 58-year-old Goregaon resident, impersonated officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation, and informed him that a parcel containing mephedrone (drugs) was linked to his KYC, police said. Threatening him with digital arrest, they managed to make him transfer Rs 3.5cr to their accounts.
The North Cyber Cell of Mumbai Police have booked the arrested trio --- Anwarshad P S, 44, Amirshad K K, 28, and Mohsin C, 53, - under BNS charges of cheating, forgery, breach of trust, impersonation, and the Information Technology Act. The trio is accused of accepting the fraud money in their fictitious bank account, converting it into cryptocurrency, and sending it to their mentors in Dubai.
The case pertains to a complaint on Aug 31 when the complainant received a call from a mobile number informing him that his parcel was detained by Customs at Delhi airport. When the complainant said he had not ordered any parcel, the caller claimed his KYC was used, and the Delhi Cyber Police agency was looking for him. Later, he received another video call from a person claiming to be from the Delhi Cyber Police. The caller identified himself as Samadhan Pawar, and the caller ID displayed the logo of Delhi Police and a uniform.
"The caller said they were booking him in the case and disconnected the call. Later, he started receiving WhatsApp messages from another number claiming to be from Delhi Police. The caller told him that he knew he was falsely implicated and, being a senior citizen, he would help him. He extracted all personal details like his job, income, assets, and investments," said investigating officer Kiran Aher.
On Sept 1, the victim received a message with a letter from the ‘Finance Department and CBI' with the signature of Samadhan Pawar and the logo of RBI and the emboss of the govt of India. He was asked transfer all his savings, investments, and mutual funds into one bank account, and the victim complied.