'Digital Arrest' scam wipes out life savings of 90-year-old in Gujarat: Here's what happened

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₹1 crore. The elderly victim, a stock market trader, was duped by fraudsters posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who alleged his involvement in a drug trafficking and money laundering racket, reported NDTV.According to the publication, the conmen, part of a gang operating in collaboration with associates in China, initiated the scam through a WhatsApp call.

Claiming to be CBI officers, they falsely accused the victim of being linked to a parcel allegedly couriered in his name from Mumbai to China, which purportedly contained 400 grams of MD drugs.Under the pretext of interrogation, the scammers placed the victim under a so-called 'digital arrest' for 15 days, using threats of legal action and imprisonment against him and his family to instil fear, added the report.The publication said that during this period, the scammers deceitfully extracted sensitive information and transferred ₹1.15 crore from the elderly man’s bank accounts. Notably, the victim’s family became aware of the fraud and reported the matter to the Surat Cyber Cell on 29 October.Reportedly, the Surat Crime Branch has since apprehended five suspects: Ramesh Surana, Umesh Jinjala, Naresh Surana, Rajesh Deora, and Gaurang Rakholiya.The report added that the investigations revealed the gang’s use of 46 debit cards, 23 cheque books, nine mobile phones, 28 SIM cards, and rubber stamps of multiple firms to facilitate their operations.

However, the alleged mastermind, Parth Gopani, remains at large and is believed to be in Cambodia. Authorities have released a sketch of Gopani in an effort to locate him.According to the report, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhavesh Rozia emphasised that the fraudsters had exploited the