Retired IAF Officer Recovers Nearly Rs 40 Lakh Lost in ‘Digital Arrest’ Fraud
Timely intervention by the Cyber Crime Investigation Centre for Excellence (CICE) of the Crime Branch in Jammu has resulted in the recovery of almost Rs 40 lakh belonging to a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer. The officer had fallen victim to an alleged ‘digital arrest’ fraud, losing his hard-earned savings, as reported by the police on Sunday.
The recovered amount is set to be remitted back to the complainant’s account shortly through court proceedings, bringing relief to the victim and his family, according to police sources.
Following an online complaint lodged by the retired officer on February 6 regarding the ‘digital arrest’ scam that defrauded him of Rs 52.90 lakh, CICE Jammu initiated an investigation, leading to the tracing of the bank accounts where the swindled funds were transferred.
Within just three hours of receiving the complaint, an amount of Rs 11.90 lakh was tracked to a suspected account in Jodhpur, which was promptly put on hold using the newly issued standard operating procedure (SOP) for such cases, the police statement revealed.
Furthermore, a freeze of Rs 4.90 lakh was placed on subsequent layers of interconnected bank accounts, and through coordinated efforts with the banks involved, an additional Rs 28 lakhs were traced in a second layer of suspected accounts, bringing the total secured amount to Rs 39.90 lakh out of the defrauded sum.
This successful operation marks the first practical application of the recently issued SOP by CICE Jammu in financial investigations, showcasing its effectiveness in combating such fraudulent activities, the police emphasized.
