The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested five more accused in its ongoing Operation Chakra-VI targeting digital arrest crimes, bringing the total number of people apprehended across three cases to eight. The latest arrests follow coordinated searches across 89 locations in 20 states, part of a nationwide crackdown on organised cybercrime networks.
What Operation Chakra-VI Is Actually Targeting
The CBI said the operation aims to uncover the networks behind digital arrest frauds, both the perpetrators directly running the scams and those facilitating them from behind the scenes. The agency had earlier carried out large-scale searches across three major cases, acting on directions from the Supreme Court of India.
The Scale of Losses in the Three Cases
One case centres on BITS Pilani, where a victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for three months and defrauded of ₹7.67 crore by scammers impersonating police officers. A second case in Gujarat followed a similar pattern, a victim kept under digital arrest for three months, allegedly cheated of ₹19.24 crore. The third case, from Karnataka, involved a victim digitally arrested for a month, defrauded of ₹15.45 crore.
What the Earlier Searches Turned Up
The initial round of searches had already led to the arrest of three accused: Akash of Haryana, who allegedly received ₹1.95 crore of the defrauded amount in an account he'd opened himself; Raja Karmakar of Kolkata, into whose firm's account ₹1.5 crore of the fraud proceeds was routed; and Jyoti Rani.
According to the CBI, Raja Karmakar withdrew part of the credited proceeds in cash and transferred the rest onward, activity investigators say established his alleged role in receiving and laundering the fraud proceeds.
Five New Arrests
Building on this earlier investigation, the CBI has now arrested five more accused, identified as Sanket Bastwar and Pankaj Damade, both from Itarsi, Arif alias King Bhai, Harish Purushottam Yadav alias Harry of New Delhi, and Shashank Singh alias Ravi of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The agency alleges Bastwar and Damade deceptively obtained a bank account, accepted fraud proceeds into it, and actively participated in dispersing the money to obscure its trail, essentially playing the layering role in what investigators describe as an organised money-laundering chain.
How the Bank Accounts Were Reportedly Compromised
According to the CBI, Arif, Harish Purushottam Yadav, and Shashank Singh were allegedly involved in arranging a bank account specifically used to receive money from a digital arrest fraud victim. More strikingly, the agency says the trio installed a malicious APK file on the actual account holder's mobile phone, allowing them to intercept the bank's SMS alerts and covertly operate the account without the legitimate owner's knowledge, a level of technical sophistication that goes well beyond simply persuading someone to hand over their account.
Investigators are now examining what the CBI has described as an elaborate, organised network, one where these accused allegedly formed part of a broader system built specifically to move and launder fraud proceeds at scale.
What Happens Next
With eight people now apprehended across the three cases, the CBI says efforts are ongoing to trace and arrest the remaining accused believed to be part of this wider network. Investigation into all three cases continues, with the agency reiterating its commitment to acting against digital arrest crimes and organised cybercrime networks more broadly, and bringing those involved to justice.
FAQs
Q1. How many people have been arrested so far under Operation Chakra-VI in these cases?
Eight, following the arrest of five more accused in addition to three arrested earlier in the investigation.
Q2. How much did victims lose across the three cases?
₹7.67 crore (BITS Pilani case), ₹19.24 crore (Gujarat case), and ₹15.45 crore (Karnataka case).
Q3. How did the newly arrested accused allegedly compromise a victim's bank account?
By installing a malicious APK file on the account holder's phone, allowing them to intercept SMS alerts and covertly operate the account without the owner's knowledge.
Q4. What triggered these coordinated CBI searches?
Directions from the Supreme Court of India, leading to searches across 89 locations in 20 states as part of the broader crackdown on digital arrest fraud networks.