In Andhra Pradesh, seven cybercriminals were taken into custody for a digital arrest fraud.

Tirupati: Tirupati police seized cash and gold jewelry valued at almost Rs 95 lakh from the accused's possession and detained seven members of a well-known gang of cybercriminals who employed the "digital arrest" technique.

Cyber News Jan 29, 2025 0 10 Add to Reading List

In Andhra Pradesh, seven cybercriminals were taken into custody for a digital arrest fraud.

Tirupati police seized cash and gold jewelry valued at almost Rs 95 lakh from the accused's possession and detained seven members of a well-known gang of cybercriminals who employed the "digital arrest" technique.

Tirupati SP V Harshavardhan Raju told a press conference at the district police office on Tuesday that this group recently tricked a 65-year-old woman in Tirupati by pretending to be CBI agents looking into a Rs 200 crore money laundering case. "The group stole Rs 2.5 crore from the elderly mother by using digital arrest. The victim filed an official police complaint at the Tirupati West police station on January 13 after realizing she had been duped by the group," he added.

The crime was investigated by special police teams, who focused on the Visakhapatnam gang and arrested seven of the suspects. Residents of various localities in Visakhapatnam, they were identified as Palakollu Arun Vinay Kumar (Rajahmundry), Singampalli Ganesh (34), Palakollu Ravi Kumar (28), U Jagadish (37), P Anand Santosh Kumar (39), U Amar Anand (33), and Karri Vasudev. From the accused's possession, police retrieved gold ornaments valued at about Rs 38 lakh and Rs 57 lakh in cash.

A total of Rs 36 lakh that was lodged in the accused's multiple bank accounts was also frozen by the police. The accused's mobile phones, routers, and SIM modules were among the other devices that were confiscated. The Tirupati SP claims that the gang members had received training to commit a variety of cybercrimes in Cambodia and had established a high-tech cybercrime office in Visakhapatnam, from where they were conducting a range of cybercrimes, including digital arrests.

People should be aware that the tendency of digital arrests nationwide has suddenly increased in recent years, Harshavardhan Raju said. "People should be aware that no state police department or federal government agency would digitally place someone under arrest. The SP advised people to exercise extra vigilance when they get anonymous calls because it is evident that cybercriminals are not just targeting well-known individuals but have also been targeting the Aam Janta in recent times.