A special squad of the Kerala Police has made headway in tracking those behind a major digital arrest scam in which an elderly couple lost ₹18.15 lakh. The accused, identified as K.V. Arjun, 24, and C.V. Shidin, 23, of Kozhikode, were nabbed on July 21 after an eight-month-long probe into the incident.
Police sources said the two from Balussery were suspected of receiving technical support from another gang to operate similar fraud across the State, and the details of their operation could be brought to light within a couple of weeks. The two took part in the fraud by pretending to be enforcement officers from Mumbai, they said.
“The Kozhikode natives contacted the elderly couple from Thrissur on WhatsApp last year with a claim that there were some money laundering cases against them. They extorted the money in different instalments. It was later transferred to an unknown account after making the couple believe that it would compound the offence,” said a police officer with the investigation team. The case was cracked after examining hundreds of bank accounts and transaction details, he said.
According to police sources, the two initially asked the couple to appear before the ‘Enforcement squad’ in Mumbai and cooperate with the ‘investigation’. Noticing the couple’s reluctance, the two later informed them that their bank accounts would be frozen soon as part of the legal measures. The victims reportedly believed it as such as the two were able to explain the details of a few bank accounts under ‘scanner’.
“While examining the WhatsApp call details, there were initially doubts that the digital arrest scam was operated by a criminal gang from some North Indian States. The details of suspects from Kerala emerged following the investigation carried out with the support of the hi-tech cyber investigation cell,” said a senior police officer from the Cyber Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. He said the hi-tech crime investigation cell would be able to crack a few more similar incidents within a short time.
Published – July 23, 2025 07:10 pm IST
