Jammu Police recover nearly Rs 40 lakh from 'digital arrest' cyber fraud

Jammu Police's CICE unit recovered nearly Rs 40 lakh for a retired IAF officer who was duped of Rs 52.90 lakh in a 'digital arrest' cyber fraud. The victim was allegedly held digitally for nine days before the swift police action.

IAF Veteran Duped in 'Digital Arrest' Scam

The Police Station Cyber Crime Investigation Centre for Excellence (CICE), Jammu, received an online complaint on February 6 from a retired Indian Air Force officer regarding a "digital arrest" cyber fraud involving Rs 52.90 lakh, during which the victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for nine days.

Swift Police Action Recovers Nearly Rs 40 Lakh

Acting swiftly on the complaint, the police initiated an investigation, traced the beneficiary bank accounts and followed the money trail without delay. Within three hours of receiving the complaint, an amount of Rs 11.90 lakh was traced to a suspected Yes Bank account in Jodhpur and was immediately placed on hold by invoking the newly issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

Additionally, a lien of Rs 4.90 lakh was marked in subsequent layers of linked bank accounts. Further coordinated efforts with the concerned banks led to the tracing of an additional Rs 28 lakh in second-layer suspected accounts. With this, a total amount of Rs 39,90,482 out of the defrauded sum has been successfully saved and secured.

The recovered amount will be remitted to the complainant's account shortly through the Court, providing significant relief to the victim and his family. This case marks the first operational use of the newly issued SOP by PS CICE Jammu in a live investigation, demonstrating its effectiveness in financial crime probes. The swift action was carried out by DySP Albeena Malik (JKPS), SHO PS CICE Jammu, along with her team comprising Inspector Pradeep Singh and Head Constable Rakesh Choudhary, under the overall supervision of SSP CICE Jammu and Kashmir.

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