Digital arrest gang busted in Karnataka, kingpin and three others arrested; links to Pakistan
Suspense Crime, Digital Desk : In Karnataka, a cyber fraud ring that carried out digital arrest schemes was busted by the police, leading to the arrest of four suspects, including the kingpin. Law enforcement also successfully froze over 1 lakh rupees in defrauded funds. Three mobile phones were recovered during the raid. It all began when a victim filed a complaint on January 19, 2026, on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), reporting to have fallen victim to a scam. The victims were contacted by fraudsters pretending to be from a telecom company. On January 8, 2026, the victim received a call from a woman who claimed to be from the telecom provider, informing them that their phone number, registered to their Aadhaar card, was being used for illegal online gaming activities. The caller then transferred the victim to someone who identified himself as a sub-inspector with the Indira Nagar police station in Bengaluru. This person falsely informed the victim that four bank accounts were opened in their name using their Aadhaar card and that these were connected to a money laundering case. Under the guise of senior police officers, the fraudsters threatened the victim, claiming they were under investigation.
Under the threat of further legal action, the fraudsters kept the victim on video call, obtained details of their bank accounts, fixed deposits, mutual funds, shares, and other assets. The victim was instructed to liquidate their investments early and transfer the money into several specified bank accounts and UPI IDs, as it would be kept in escrow accounts with RBI auditors for verification. They even sent fake RBI receipts to build trust.
From January 9 to January 16, 2026, the victim transferred 15,31,997 rupees to the fraudulent accounts, later realizing they were victims of cyber fraud by individuals impersonating telecom officials, law enforcement officers, and government agency employees.
An e-FIR was registered at the Rohini Cyber Police Station and an investigation was launched, revealing that the funds were being transferred to multiple accounts, with two main accounts used for channeling the money. The Union Bank account, under the name of Ankit, received 1,98,000 rupees, and the Bank of India account, under the name of Aman Kumar, received 98,000 rupees. Both accounts were found to be used from the same device, located in Ismailpur, Faridabad at the time of technical analysis.
Three of the suspects were apprehended in Deepari village, Migholi Post, Kannauj district, Uttar Pradesh. One of them, Ankit, confessed to working for Mohammad Noor Alam, the kingpin, and providing the mule bank accounts along with related documentation. Sam Ansari, another suspect, who provided his bank account for the cyber scam and maintained contact with the fraudsters on Snapchat, was also arrested. Mohammad Noor Alam was arrested in Ismailpur, Faridabad, where he arranged the mule accounts and was in contact with an individual named Bilal, residing in Pakistan.
The fraudsters converted the money into USDT and sent it to Bilal in Pakistan for a commission, then converting the remaining USDT into cash via multiple bank accounts. The suspects were also found to have initially connected through Instagram. The phones of the three suspects were seized by the police, and the investigation is ongoing to identify any other individuals involved in the racket.
