Kerala man arrested in Goa for Rs 1.05 crore 'digital arrest' scam

Panaji: A man from Kerala has been taken into custody by Goa Police for allegedly extorting Rs 1.05 crore from a South Goa resident using the deceptive method known as 'digital arrest', officials confirmed on Monday.

The accused, identified as Gokul Prakash M K, reportedly impersonated a law enforcement officer and intimidated the victim — a resident of Quepem — by falsely implicating him in a money laundering case.

According to Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime), Rahul Gupta, "The victim was shown a fake arrest warrant and forced to transfer Rs 1.05 crore through multiple bank transactions. Prakash allegedly received Rs 24 lakh of the defrauded money in his ICICI Bank account, which has been linked to 13 criminal cases across 10 states involving a total of over Rs 9.02 crore."

The incident led to the registration of a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act at the Cyber Crime Police Station on July 9, Gupta added.

A police team led by PSI Manish Dabale tracked the suspect to Kannur, Kerala, where he was apprehended on August 7.

"The accused has been remanded in police custody and further investigation is underway under the supervision of PI Deepak Pednekar," Gupta said.

The investigation continues to uncover the broader network involved in the scam, which appears to be part of a larger digital fraud operation spanning multiple states.

PTI