New Delhi, September 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested five more accused for allegedly receiving, layering and dispersing fraud proceeds running into crores of rupees as part of its nationwide crackdown on digital arrest scams under Operation Chakra-VI, an official said on Sunday.
The latest arrests follow coordinated searches conducted recently at 89 locations across 20 states in connection with three major digital arrest cases reported in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka.
With the fresh arrests, the total number of accused apprehended in the three cases has risen to eight. The CBI said efforts were continuing to identify and arrest other members of the wider network.
The five accused were identified as Sanket Bastwar, Pankaj Damade, Arif alias King Bhai, Harish Purushottam Yadav alias Harry and Shashank Singh alias Ravi.
According to the CBI, Bastwar and Damade, both from Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly obtained a bank account through deceit, received digital arrest fraud proceeds into it and helped transfer the money to conceal its trail.
Arif, Harish and Shashank, from New Delhi and Ghaziabad, allegedly arranged the bank account used to receive money from a victim and subsequently layered the proceeds through multiple accounts.
The agency said the three also allegedly installed a malicious APK file on the account holder’s mobile phone, enabling them to intercept bank SMS alerts and covertly operate the account.
The investigation is now uncovering the wider organised network and tracing how the fraud proceeds were moved through different accounts, the CBI said.
The federal agency had earlier conducted searches at 89 locations following directions from the Supreme Court, which had taken serious note of the growing threat posed by digital arrest scams and directed the CBI to take decisive action against perpetrators and networks facilitating such crimes.
In one of the three cases, a BITS Pilani-linked victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for three months and defrauded of Rs 7.67 crore by individuals impersonating police officers.
In the Gujarat case, another victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for three months and cheated of Rs 19.24 crore, while the Karnataka case involved a victim who was digitally detained for a month and defrauded of Rs 15.45 crore.
Earlier, the CBI had arrested three accused in these cases. They included Akash of Haryana, who allegedly received Rs 1.95 crore and transferred the money onward the same day; Raja Karmakar of Kolkata, whose firm’s account allegedly received Rs 1.5 crore; and Jyoti Rani, who allegedly withdrew part of the proceeds in cash and transferred the remaining amount onward.
The CBI said these arrests had helped establish the alleged direct roles of the accused in handling and laundering fraud proceeds, while further investigation into the network remains underway.
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