Mumbai: Observing that granting bail would lead to the feeling gaining ground in the citizenry that people can commit the most outrageous acts and yet would be dealt softly by court, a special court on Monday rejected the bail plea of 14 accused arrested for allegedly being involved in a massive “digital arrest” scam that defrauded a former pharmaceutical executive of over Rs 58 crore. Special Judge Ajay Vitthal Gujarathi said, “Cyber crimes are rising day by day. Innocent people are losing their hard-earned money due to cyber frauds. Everybody must be aware that he or she should not permit or insist that another person misuse his or her bank account for criminal activities.”The judge further pointed to the legal and moral responsibility of citizens regarding their personal financial accounts. The judge further said the “larger interest of the society” outweighed individual requests for release, concluding that the applications were devoid of merit.The informant reported receiving a series of calls in Aug 2025 from individuals posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The fraudsters claimed the informant was involved in illegal activities linked to the chairman of a now defunct airline and placed him and his wife under a “digital arrest”. Under extreme duress and the threat of legal action, the couple was coerced into transferring the amount into various bank accounts across several weeks.Public prosecutor Ramesh Siroya opposed the bail pleas arguing they are involved in a serious economic crime. The judge delivered the orders on March 16 after considering the gravity of the offences and the filing of a chargesheet by the nodal cyber crime police. The accused — Jafar Sayyed, Abdul Karim Khully, Mukesh Singhvi, Sureshkumar Patel, Musran Kumbhar, Bipingiri Goswami, Sunny Lodha, Faheem Shaikh, Arjun Kadvasara, Chiragkumar Chaudhari, Onkar Hase, Sunny Jain, Jayeshbhai Dhapa, and Akshay Kumar Meena — are facing charges under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. The police investigation revealed that the accused allegedly facilitated the fraud by providing their bank accounts for illegal transactions in exchange for commission. The judge noted the organised nature of the crime, which involved the systematic misuse of financial infrastructure to divert large sums of money.
