A cybercrime investigation in Uttarakhand has led to the arrest of a man from West Bengal’s Malda district for allegedly helping fraudsters target a senior citizen through a “digital arrest” scam. The victim was allegedly defrauded of Rs. 1.20 crore.
The accused, Shantanu Das, lives in Gopalpur village under the English Bazar police station area in Malda. According to the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF), he allegedly allowed his bank account to receive and transfer money obtained through the fraud.
The victim, a senior woman from Almora, filed a complaint with the cybercrime police station in January 2026. She told police that unidentified people contacted her through WhatsApp calls in December 2025 while posing as officials of a telecom regulatory authority.
The callers allegedly claimed that her Aadhaar card was linked to a Canara Bank account involved in money laundering transactions worth nearly Rs. 60 crore. They also claimed that around 5,000 people had transferred money to the account and that 5,000 FIRs had been registered against her.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened her with arrest and prosecution and kept her connected through WhatsApp calls for nearly 12 days. She was also instructed not to contact her family, friends or police.
Under the pretext of verifying her bank accounts, the fraudsters persuaded her to transfer money to multiple accounts. Police said she eventually transferred Rs. 1,20,18,000.
Following directions from senior STF officers, cybercrime police gathered details of the bank accounts, mobile numbers and WhatsApp profiles allegedly used in the crime. Investigators also obtained information from banks, telecom service providers and Meta.
Technical and digital evidence helped police trace one of the accounts and linked mobile numbers. After verification, an STF team arrested Das in Malda.
“Shantanu Das allowed his bank account to be used for receiving the proceeds of the cyber fraud. The money obtained from the victim was credited to the account and immediately transferred to other accounts,” STF Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh said.
“The investigation is continuing, and the role of other account holders and accused persons linked to the fraudulent transactions is being examined,” he added.
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