Mumbai, February 11 The Cyber Cell of the Mumbai Police has arrested two men through whose bank accounts proceeds from a digital scam were allegedly being circulated, an official said on Wednesday.
Faraz Zakir Sharif and Aman Khan are alleged to have opened bank accounts under the names of fictitious companies and allowed fraudsters to use them, he said.
The North Region Cyber Cell came across their involvement while investigating a complaint filed by a 66-year-old resident of the city, the official said.
The complainant received multiple calls between December 12 and 19 from individuals who claimed to be senior officials of law enforcement agencies and claimed that there was evidence linking him to a money laundering case.
They also claimed that a First Information Report had already been registered against him and that he was being placed under "digital arrest" at his residence.
Under the pretext of investigation, they persuaded him to transfer Rs 10.35 lakh to certain bank accounts. After the complainant realized that this was a scam, he approached the police.
During the investigation, police found that the amount was first transferred to a bank account in Bengaluru and later distributed across four different bank accounts. This led to the arrest of Faraz Sharif and Aman Khan on Tuesday.
Sandeep Rao, who allegedly impersonated a police officer, along with Mohammed Sageer Mohammed Haroon Shaikh, Asif Mohammed Nazeer Shaikh, and several unidentified individuals who allegedly received and laundered the amount through bank accounts, have been named as wanted accused in the case.
A special operation has been launched to apprehend them, the official said.
Notably, government authorities have clarified in the past that "digital arrest" is a fraudulent tactic with no legal basis, as no law enforcement agency is authorized to arrest or interrogate citizens via video calls.