South Delhi Elderly Couple Duped Of Rs 14.85 Crore In ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam

An elderly couple in south Delhi was allegedly duped of nearly Rs 15 crore after being kept under a so-called “digital arrest”, with police arresting two men from Gujarat in connection with the cyber fraud, according to PTI.

The accused, identified as Divyang Patel (28) and Krutik Shitole (26), were apprehended from Vadodara on Thursday and brought to Delhi on transit remand, police said. A Delhi court later remanded both men to two days’ police custody for further interrogation, PTI reported.

The case relates to a cyber fraud involving an elderly couple residing in Greater Kailash Part I, who were allegedly coerced over several days into transferring large sums of money while being kept under constant online surveillance by the accused, according to PTI.

During the investigation, police found that around Rs 4 crore, out of the total Rs 14.85 crore siphoned off, was transferred on December 29 last year into a bank account registered in the name of an NGO run by Patel. The amount was subsequently diverted into multiple bank accounts through smaller transactions to evade detection, police said.

Further scrutiny revealed that the NGO existed only on paper and had no genuine charitable activity. Police alleged that Patel allowed the account to be used by fraudsters in return for commission, while Shitole acted as an intermediary who facilitated contact between Patel and other members of the network.

According to investigators, the accused used fake calls, internet banking platforms and email accounts to control, route and divert the funds. The money trail showed that the proceeds of crime were routed through bank accounts spread across several states.

Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and to trace the remaining funds, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)