Jalandhar, Jan 2 (IANS) The ED has taken into custody the mastermind of a Rs 7 crore digital arrest fraud targeted at a Ludhiana resident from Kanpur and began questioning him in connection with over half a dozen similar crimes committed by impersonating as CBI officers with the help of foreign-based aides, an official said on Friday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, was granted custody of main accused Arpit Rathore till January 5 by the Special Court (PMLA) here, the ED said in a statement.
The ED conducted a search operation on December 31, 2025 at the premises of Rathore who was subsequently arrested during search in connection with money laundering investigation related to the digital arrest of S. P. Oswal, the official said in a statement.
It was also found that the accused, Rathore, played a significant role not only in the digital arrest of Oswal but also in several other cybercrimes and frauds targeting innocent people.
Rathore maintained contact with foreign associates to carry out these crimes, aiding foreign nationals by providing mule accounts and facilitating the transfer of illegal proceeds to foreign jurisdictions.
During the searches conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the ED seized incriminating records, digital devices and unexplained cash amounting to Rs 14 lakh.
The ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ludhiana, under BNSS, 2023. Nine additional FIRs related to cybercrime or digital arrest involving the same group were also included in the investigation.
The ED investigation revealed that during the digital arrest of Oswal, the fraudsters impersonated officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation and extorted Rs 7 crore from him.
The same group defrauded Rs 1.73 crore from others through digital arrest and cyber fraud scams. Investigation revealed that funds were routed through multiple mule accounts operated by the accused, Rumi Kalita and Rathore.
Kalita, hailing from Guwahati, and Rathore, from Kanpur, were allegedly involved in these digital arrests, the ED said.
It was revealed that Kalita established an association with Atanu Choudary and utilised bank accounts belonging to his entity Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics and other entity Rigglo Ventures Pvt Ltd to launder illicit proceeds.
Funds derived from nine digital arrest cases were deposited into the accounts of Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics, while proceeds from two cases were placed in the account of Rigglo Ventures Pvt Ltd.
These amounts were subsequently transferred to more than 200 mule bank accounts, facilitating the diversion of the proceeds.
The completion of these transactions was enabled by Rathore who instructed Kalita on transferring funds once the victims made their deposits.
In return, these foreign nationals compensated Rathore and obtained details about the mule accounts to help move cybercrime profits abroad. Additionally, it was discovered that Rathore received his share of the criminal proceeds in the form of USDT cryptocurrency and Indian rupees.
Earlier, searches were conducted on December 22, 2025 in the case and the accused Rumi Kalita was arrested on December 23, 2025 and is presently under ED custody.
After his arrest, accused Rathore was produced before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kanpur, who granted this two days’ transit remand to the probe agency. Subsequently, Rathore was produced before the Special Court in Jalandhar which sent him to ED custody till January 5, 2026, said the statement.
--IANS
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