Ahmedabad: The Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCOE) of Gujarat CID Crime arrested a 25-year-old man from Assam who allegedly acted as a key financial handler for an international cybercrime network involved in ‘digital arrest’ scams, with the investigation linking him to 1,090 cases involving transactions worth Rs 1,071.55 crore.The accused, identified as Rafiq-ul-Alam of Barpeta district, was arrested from his residence after police analysed bank accounts and statements of victims targeted in ‘digital arrest’ scams. Alam was booked under provisions of BNS and Information Technology Act.The investigation began after a senior citizen was found to be under ‘digital arrest’. The victim was allegedly threatened using forged documents purportedly issued by the Maharashtra police and the Supreme Court and was directed to transfer money into specified bank accounts.Technical analysis of the transactions helped the CCOE officials identify around 10 other victims who were allegedly under ‘digital arrest’ at the time. Police teams visited their residences, counselled them and prevented further financial losses.The investigation subsequently led police to Barpeta in Assam, where Alam was identified as the alleged financial handler. A CCOE team conducted reconnaissance in the area for three days while posing as ordinary citizens before raiding his residence and arresting him, police said.According to investigators, Alam allegedly routed money obtained from fraud victims through multiple bank accounts before converting it into cryptocurrency and transferring it to Chinese-linked operators. In one instance, he allegedly split large transactions into smaller transfers across 1,754 bank accounts within an hour to evade financial surveillance.Police said 23 cryptocurrency wallets were recovered from his mobile phone, with transactions worth around Rs 16 crore traced through them. Police also found the use of a cryptocurrency trading application and gaming accounts for transferring funds.The accused allegedly communicated with Chinese cybercriminals through WhatsApp and Telegram, sharing bank scanners, user IDs, passwords, cryptocurrency wallet details and instructions related to fraud operations, police said.CCOE officials said their intervention prevented victims in 10 locations across the country from losing money. The victims included senior citizens in Ahmedabad, Surat and Jamnagar.In one Ahmedabad case, a resident was allegedly threatened with arrest in a child pornography case and asked to pay Rs 20 lakh. In another case in Surat, a senior citizen was allegedly threatened with money laundering and terrorism charges and was preparing to pay Rs 40 lakh after arranging Rs 20 lakh by selling a shop.Police appealed to citizens not to transfer money or share OTPs, passwords or banking details with callers claiming to be police, CBI, ED or court officials. Any suspected cyberfraud should immediately be reported on helpline 1930.
