Retired banker trapped in 42-hour ‘digital arrest for links with Pahalgam terrorists'; almost loses Rs 70 lakh
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The scammers — posing as anti-terrorism squad, National Investigation Agency and Enforcement Directorate officers — contacted her in Bareilly, coerced her into arranging Rs 70 lakh for a "non-involvement certificate" before her brother's alert led to timely police intervention on Wednesday. Police located the caller's location to Meerut but investigations revealed that the number was issued on forged ID.
Officers said the woman had been coerced into believing that the "agencies had issued arrest warrants against her as she had links to the terrorist attack" in which 26 civilians were killed.
The scammers produced three forged documents — one purporting to be an arrest order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 — and threatened her with arrest unless she complied with their demands.
The woman panicked and followed their instructions. The scammers told her to provide details of her assets, including gold, income tax returns and valuables. They insisted she secure a "non-involvement certificate" from them to prove her innocence, and she began arranging approximately Rs 70 lakh.
When her brother became alarmed by her distressed messages, he contacted the police, who traced the calls and located the woman. Officers confronted the accused, who failed to answer questions, cut all communication and deleted their messages and records. The woman told TOI, "The cops, arriving on time, prevented my money loss. I want to urge everyone that digital arrest is nothing but a threat used by these accused to dupe people.
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Bareilly (city) SP Manush Pareek said, "Operation Mahadev, the counter-terror operation launched after the Pahalgam attack, has been exploited by scammers in such cases to make their threats appear credible. We have initiated a probe and will trace their whereabouts soon. In such digital arrest cases, one should not panic and should immediately inform the police."
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