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The Cyber Crime Unit in Hyderabad has arrested three men for allegedly running a digital arrest racket that swindled a 71-year-old resident out of ₹1,92,50,070 between November 7 and November 14.
An officer from the wing said that the victim was threatened with a fabricated case involving the misuse of his Aadhaar number and was coerced into transferring money to multiple bank accounts after being shown forged documents and a fake ATM card.
The arrested men are Pandu Vinith Raj, 24, Thirupathaiah, 40, and Gouni Vishwanatham, 46. The police said, “Vinith Raj acted as an account supplier, while Thirupathaiah and Vishwanatham jointly operated one of the accounts used to collect the victim’s deposits.” Another suspect, Sandeep also known as Alex, is currently absconding.
According to the officer, the victim, Chaganti Hanumantha Rao, received a call from fraudsters posing as officials of a central agency. They accused him of involvement in financial crimes and warned him that his bank accounts would be frozen and that he could face immediate arrest. The scammers later switched to video calls, showed him a fake identity card and a doctored first information report from Delhi, and pressured him to stay isolated while making the transfers. Officers said the group was linked to five similar cases across India, including two in Telangana.
Officers seized four mobile phones from the arrested trio. Inspector K. Satish Reddy’s team, including Sub-Inspector Srikanth and others, tracked the transactions and identified the accounts used before detaining the suspects in Hyderabad and Mahbubnagar. The police noted that digital arrest remains one of the most common intimidation-based cyber frauds, catching many elderly victims off guard.
The Cyber Crime Unit reminded the public that no law enforcement agency asks for fines or security deposits over phone or video calls. They urged residents to avoid sharing personal information and to report suspicious communication immediately by dialling 1930 or visiting the National Cyber crime Portal.
Published – November 30, 2025 02:50 pm IST
