Representative image for digital arrest
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested eight persons, including a priest, from three states in connection with the alleged duping of an elderly NRI couple of over Rs 14 crore through "digital arrest" and busted a cyber-fraud racket with links to operators based in Cambodia and Nepal, officials said on Saturday.
The accused were apprehended from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha following a multi-state operation that exposed the well-coordinated network engaged in impersonating law-enforcement agencies and siphoning off victims' money through mule bank accounts, they added.
Divyang Patel (30) and Krutik Shitole (26) from Gujarat's Vadodara, Mahavir Sharma alias Neel (27) from Odisha's Bhubaneswar, Ankit Mishra alias Robin from Gujarat, Arun Kumar Tiwari (45) and Pradyuman Tiwari alias S P Tiwari (44) from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, and Bhupender Kumar Mishra (37) and Aadesh Kumar Singh (36) from Lucknow have been arrested in connection with the incident, the officials said.
Patel and Shitole were arrested on January 15, police said. Patel, a B.Com graduate, has passed the CA (Intermediate) exam. "He runs an NGO named Floresta Foundation and also provides financial services through his firm, Tatva Business Advisors," police said.
Shitole holds a diploma in information technology from New Zealand.
Arun Kumar Tiwari, arrested on January 16, is a BA graduate and works as a private data-entry operator outside the Income Tax Office in Varanasi. He also runs an NGO called Shivas Charitable Foundation, police said.
Sharma, arrested on January 19, is a B.Com graduate. Pradyuman Tiwari, arrested on January 20, works as a priest and performs private "pooja" for devotees at the Varanasi ghats, the officials said.
Ankit Mishra, who was arrested on January 21, is a B.Com graduate and has previously worked as a sales executive with SBI Cap Securities, police said.
Kumar, also arrested on January 21, holds an MBA degree and was employed in a private job, they added.
Singh, arrested the same day, has completed BA and used to provide tuition and private coaching to students, police said.
The case came to light after a 77-year-old woman living in south Delhi's Greater Kailash was allegedly duped of more than Rs 14.84 crore.
According to police, the victim received a call in December 2025, claiming that a SIM card issued in her name was linked to a money-laundering case.
She was then placed on video calls by the fraudsters, who posed as officials from agencies such as the CBI and police, showed her a forged arrest warrant and conducted fake "court proceedings".
The victim and her husband were allegedly kept under round-the-clock video surveillance and threatened with dire consequences if they contacted anyone. Under fear and coercion, they were persuaded to transfer funds, including from fixed deposits and share investments, into so-called "RBI-mandated accounts" for "verification", with false assurances that the money would be returned. A total amount of Rs 14.84 crore was transferred through eight transactions, police said.
An e-FIR was registered at the Special Cell's IFSO police station here on January 10 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and a special team formed to investigate the case.
Through technical surveillance and an analysis of bank accounts, police tracked the money trail leading to several alleged mule-account holders.
The investigators said the accused acted as facilitators by procuring and operating mule accounts and layering defrauded funds at the behest of the international syndicate.
Police seized seven mobile phones and chequebooks during the operation. Further investigation is on to unearth the entire money trail and identify other conspirators, the officials added.