A 72-year-old resident of Surat was allegedly cheated of ₹1.47 crore in a sophisticated “digital arrest” cyber fraud, where scammers posed as officials from Mumbai Cyber Crime and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and kept the victim under psychological pressure for 28 days.
The Surat Cyber Crime Cell has arrested Urjit Kavi, 37, from Ahmedabad’s Gota area in connection with the case.
According to police, the fraud began with a phone call in which the accused claimed that a SIM card linked to the victim’s Aadhaar was involved in a money laundering case connected to former Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal. The callers also alleged that anti-national messages had been sent using the same number, framing it as a national security matter.
Investigators said the victim was placed under a fake “digital arrest” through continuous video calls, during which he was monitored and isolated inside his home. He was allegedly instructed not to question the so-called investigation.