A chilling new dimension of cybercrime has emerged in India: “digital arrests”, where scammers impersonate law enforcement and judicial authorities via video calls to extort lakhs from terrified victims. The latest victim: a Jaipur man defrauded of ₹23.56 lakh through an elaborate ruse that included a fake courtroom, a bogus judge, and high-tech money laundering operations run from hotel WiFi. Police have now arrested three suspects, revealing a deeply sophisticated cross-state fraud network.
A Courtroom in WhatsApp: Anatomy of a ‘Digital Arrest’
On the surface, it seemed like a routine call. But for a Jaipur resident on May 23, it was the beginning of a nightmare. The caller introduced himself as Sanjay Kumar from Mumbai’s Colaba Police Station. His message was urgent: the recipient was under investigation for laundering ₹2.8 crore through a phone number linked to objectionable content. The arrest warrant was already active.
Terrified, the victim was transferred to a supposed senior CBI officer named Rohit Kumar Gupta, who confirmed the charges and intensified the psychological pressure. The scammers even staged a fake courtroom via WhatsApp video call, complete with a man impersonating a judge issuing a verbal arrest warning if the victim failed to cooperate.
Jaipur Cyber Crime Superintendent Shantanu Kumar stated that the victim was shown a fake court session with a judge ordering asset seizure and immediate arrest. Under this extreme pressure, the man wired ₹23.56 lakh via RTGS to an account in Rohini, Delhi.
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Hotel WiFi and High-Tech Laundering: Inside the Operation
Once the money was transferred to an ICICI Bank account under the name “Krishna Surgical,” the scammers retreated to a Jaipur hotel. There, they accessed the hotel’s WiFi to transfer the extorted funds into various accounts across Delhi, Sonipat, and Chandigarh, effectively laundering the amount within hours. They stayed at the same hotel for three days, using it as a mobile operations base while running similar scams elsewhere. During that period, they reportedly duped victims in Chandigarh of ₹3 crore and in Sonipat of another ₹8 lakh.
The operation came crashing down when police traced the primary account to Suresh Kumar Jat, alias Surendra, a medical supplies trader from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, who had suffered losses in business and turned to cybercrime to recoup them. He was arrested in Delhi on May 30.
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A National Network: Four States, Multiple Victims, One Modus Operandi
Following Suresh’s arrest, three more accomplices, Omprakash alias Nitesh (23), Vanshul alias Aryan (19), and Bhupesh Fageria (27), were picked up from Sonipat District Jail on a production warrant. Investigations reveal the group had multiple cases registered against them in four states and was part of a larger cybercrime syndicate running coordinated “digital arrest” schemes.
Their method was chillingly effective:
- Spoofing calls using police station IDs
- Generating fake arrest warrants
- Deepfake-like courtroom visuals via video calls
- Emotional manipulation rooted in fear of legal trouble
In response, cybercrime units across India have ramped up public advisories, warning citizens not to trust legal threats over calls and to verify any such communication directly with police stations or through official portals.
About the author – Prakriti Jha is a student at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, currently pursuing B.Sc. LL.B (Hons.) with a keen interest in the intersection of law and data science. She is passionate about exploring how legal frameworks adapt to the evolving challenges of technology and justice.