A man from Uttar Pradesh has been arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for defrauding a 73-year-old Chennai resident of ₹4.15 crore through a “digital arrest” scam.
According to the police, the victim, S. Srivatsan of Mylapore, was contacted on September 26 by a gang posing as officials from the Mumbai Crime Department. They falsely claimed that a SIM card issued in his name was being used for illegal activities.
Using forged documents purportedly from the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Interpol, and the Supreme Court, they threatened him and coerced him into transferring funds under the pretext of “RBI verification.”
Believing the threats, Srivatsan transferred a total of ₹4.15 crore between September 25 and October 5 to multiple bank accounts. Realising later that he had been duped, he filed a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner. Based on this, the CCB Cyber Crime Wing registered a case on October 13 and launched an investigation.
Technical analysis of the WhatsApp number used in the scam revealed it was registered to one Manish Kumar, 23, from Mauranipur, Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh. A special team of the CCB Cyber Crime Police travelled to Jhansi, arrested Manish Kumar with the help of local police, and seized mobile phones, Aadhaar card, ATM cards, and bank passbooks linked to the fraudulent transactions.
Police said the accused had impersonated as government official and cheated several people in similar scams involving fake online job offers and social media accounts. Manish Kumar was brought to Chennai on a transit warrant. He was later remanded in judicial custody on Thursday.
Published – October 31, 2025 10:49 pm IST
