Retired UP government official duped of Rs 60 lakh in digital arrest scam

A retired government official in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad was duped of Rs 60 lakh after cybercriminals falsely accused him of money laundering and kept him under “digital arrest” for six days. The accused posed as officers from Delhi’s Crime Branch and coerced the victim into transferring the money to multiple bank accounts.
The victim, Pritam Singh Chauhan, a retired officer from the Food Corporation of India and a resident of Ghaziabad, reported the crime to the cyber police.
In his FIR, Chauhan detailed how the accused contacted him via a video call on October 10, impersonating cybercrime officials. They falsely accused him of being part of a child trafficking ring, claiming that Rs 68 crore had been transferred through an account opened in his name, including Rs 68 lakh tied to child trafficking activities.
The accused told Chauhan that the CBI had already registered a money laundering case against him and that his arrest was imminent. To avoid arrest, they offered their “assistance” but warned him not to share any information about the case with anyone. Over six days, they pressured him into transferring more than Rs 60 lakh to various accounts as a “security deposit” to prevent his arrest.
Even after securing the money, the scammers demanded an additional Rs 50 lakh and sent him a fake court notice to further intimidate him. When Chauhan was unable to gather more funds, he realized he had been duped and reported the incident to the Ghaziabad Cyber Crime Police.
Santosh Tiwari, in charge of the cybercrime police station, confirmed that an FIR has been lodged, and an investigation is underway. The police are tracing the accounts involved in the scam and are making efforts to arrest those responsible.