Bhubaneswar: In a significant development, the Cyber Crime Unit of the Odisha Crime Branch arrested two persons from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Kozhikode (Kerala) for their involvement in a digital arrest scam that duped a Bhubaneswar-based scientist of Rs 1.06 crore.
Accused Satish Kumar K has been arrested from Chennai while Harish C M from Kozhikode, the Crime Branch said in a statement.
The scam unfolded on August 9, 2024, when the Senior Scientist received a call from an unknown number, claiming to be from DHL Couriers. The caller informed him that a parcel sent to Japan in his name contained prohibited items, including passports, credit cards, and drugs. The caller then instructed him to contact the Mumbai Crime Branch urgently.
The scientist was subsequently subjected to a series of video calls, where individuals posing as police officers and government officials convinced him that he was under investigation and needed to deposit money into a government account to verify his account links. Unaware of the scam, the scientist transferred Rs 68 lakh to Satish Kumar’s account and Rs 30 lakh to Harish C M’s account.
The Cyber Crime Unit tracked the money trail, identifying the two accused, who were arrested from Chennai and Kerala. Satish Kumar K had previously been arrested in a similar digital arrest scam in Chennai involving Rs 1.9 crore. The NCR Portal revealed 22 complaints against Satish Kumar’s bank account and six complaints against Harish C M’s account.
Both of them have been remanded to judicial custody, with Satish Kumar K forwarded to the SDJM court in Bhubaneswar. The Crime Branch had previously arrested three other individuals in connection with this case, who are also in judicial custody.
