A 69-year-old retired district judge in Hyderabad has reportedly lost Rs 1.66 crore after falling prey to a ‘digital arrest’ scam, police said.
In the fraud, callers allegedly posed as senior officials from agencies such as the CBI, police and the Enforcement Directorate, using video calls to intimidate victims and extract money. Police noted that senior citizens are often targeted in such cases.
According to the complaint, the first caller introduced himself as “Deepak Kumar”, claiming to be a senior CBI officer, and falsely accused the judge of using two mobile numbers to make obscene calls to several women, saying a case had been registered in Bengaluru.
Soon after, another person joined the call claiming to be an inspector named “Gaurav Sarathi” and alleged that the judge’s Aadhaar had been misused for human trafficking, adding that a non-bailable warrant had been issued. A woman later joined, identifying herself as “Archana Ramasundaram”, and instructed the judge to join a WhatsApp video call.
The gang allegedly showed a letter bearing the Supreme Court emblem, claimed multiple cases had been filed against him, and demanded details of recent bank transactions. Over 10 days, they pressured him to transfer money to various bank accounts for “verification”, after which the calls stopped. The judge then approached police, who have registered a case and are searching for the suspects.
