‘Digital arrest’ cases: Victims lost Rs 109 crore in Karnataka, says Home Minister Parameshwara

Belagavi: Victims of ‘digital arrest’ have lost Rs 109 crore to cyber crooks in the state in the current year, Home Minister G Parameshwara told the Council on Thursday. 

The minister said a total of 641 ‘digital arrest’ cases have been filed, with Bengaluru city accounting for 480 cases, the highest. The money involved in the city is Rs 42.41 crore. The state capital is followed by Mysuru with 24 cases and Mangaluru with 21 cases. 

Parameshwara was replying to a question by BJP member Prathap Simha Nayak. 

He said, so far the police department was able to recover Rs 9.45 crore by arresting 27 people in connection with ‘digital arrest’ cases.

Nayak, a senior member of the House, shared an incident in which one of his office staffers became a victim of ‘digital arrest’.

“One of my office staffers was a victim of ‘digital arrest’. They dialled him posing as police officers and blackmailed him,” he said.

In response, Parameshwara explained the modus operandi. He said, “They call from false mobile numbers which cannot be traced. They intimidate the people and ‘arrest them digitally’. We can prevent this only by creating awareness among the public.”

The home minister listed measures taken by the government to create awareness among the public.

He said awareness campaigns have been started in schools, colleges and on social media platforms. 

More than 700 social media accounts and groups which used to lure innocent people were identified and deactivated.

“Police had tracked several social media accounts. This included 268 Facebook groups, 465 Telegram groups, 15 Instagram accounts and 61 WhatsApp groups,” the minister said.