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Vadodara: City police arrested four persons in connection with the alleged extortion of Rs 32.5 lakh from a doctor by the ‘digital arrest' modus operandi. The four are accused of helping the cybercrooks collect the money from the complainant using bank accounts and cryptocurrency.
The doctor approached city police's Cybercrime cell with a complaint in June. He said he had received a call — purporting to be from a prominent courier company — saying banned substances had been found in a parcel he had sent to Thailand. The doctor was told that the Mumbai crime branch was being notified about the seizure.
The complainant then started getting calls from people claiming to be from the Mumbai crime branch. He was instructed to record a statement through a video call and complied with this demand. The doctor said he was repeatedly threatened by the persons claiming to be from Mumbai crime branch and also received letters from them.
Fearing legal action, the victim paid Rs 32.5 lakh to the accused in two different accounts. The doctor later realized that he had been cheated and approached city police.
After investigations, police arrested Ibnusiyad Salim (30) and Ashraf Alvi (36), residents of Navi Mumbai, as well as Dhiraljal Chothani (63) from Ahmedabad and Prince Ravipara (20) from Surat. The accused had facilitated the transfer of the extortion money. Maharashtra Jharkhand Maharashtra Alliance View i Party View Seats: 288 Results Majority: 145 BJP+ 229 MVA 47 OTH 12 Results : 288 / 288 BJP+ WON Jharkhand Alliance View i Party View Seats: 81 Results Majority: 41 INDIA 56 NDA 24 OTH 1 Results : 81 / 81 INDIA WON Source: PValue Ibnusiyad and Ashraf floated a company and opened a bank account for it where a part of the extorted money was received.
It emerged that the account was linked to 130 cybercrimes. Ravipara and his uncle Chothani used cryptocurrency and bank accounts to transfer the proceeds of the crime to the perpetrators. According to an official in the Cybercrime cell, the masterminds were operating from a country in Southeast Asia.
One source of solace for police and the victim was that all of the Rs 32.5 lakh was recovered. Vadodara police commissioner Narasimha Komar issued an advisory to citizens imploring that they do not pay money to anyone who demands it in the name of any law enforcement agency.
He added that there is no such thing as ‘digital arrest' under the law..
