A massive cyber fraud in Hyderabad, dubbed 'Digital Arrest', has come to light. Hyderabad police have arrested two accused in a case of extorting over Rs 29 lakh from a 63-year-old retired employee. While the police have arrested Mohammed Ashfaq Hussain and Ahmed Najeeb Uddin, both from the city, another accused named Sachin from Bengaluru is currently absconding.

On March 3 this year, the cyber criminals who called the victim pretended to be officials from the Delhi Police, CBI and ED. They threatened him with involvement in a Rs 68 million money laundering case and that his Aadhaar details and fingerprints had been misused. They sent fake documents claiming to arrest him and warned him not to tell anyone that this was a matter of national security. The victim and his daughter, who were frightened by this, transferred a total of Rs 29,17,668 to the accused's accounts in installments.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes & SIT) M. Srinivasulu said that the accused used their mule bank accounts for this fraud, withdrew the money from the victim and deposited it in various accounts through cash deposit machines without any suspicion. Later, the amount was converted into USDT (crypto currency) and the accused took their commission. The accused confessed during the investigation that they had joined hands with Sachin through WhatsApp due to financial difficulties. The police, which have registered a case under the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the victim, are continuing the investigation.