In another case of rampant ‘digital arrest’ scams plaguing the country, a BSF official named Absar Ahmed from Gwalior, MP, was kept confined to his home by scamsters for 32 days and made to pay them Rs 71 lakhs.
As per reports, BSF inspector Absar Ahmed had received a call via WhatsApp from some persons claiming to be from the Mumbai Crime Branch. They threatened him that Ahmed had an arrest warrant against him for money laundering and that his entire family may be put under arrest. The scammers used different tactics to scare Ahmed into believing that his calls and messages were all being tracked by the Crime Branch and that if he tried to contact anyone, his case would be further complicated.
The scammers first demanded Rs 15 lakhs, and then convinced Ahmed that he had to ‘deposit’ all his money in the account number provided by the scammers, for ‘checking if his money is not black money’. They had convinced him that all the money would eventually be returned if no criminal activity was detected.
The BSF official, who lives alone in Gwalior for his work, was scared and fell prey to the scammers. He was under the fraudulent ‘digital arrest’ for nearly 32 days, starting from 2 December 2024 to 3 January 2025. It was only when his son contacted him and enquired everything that they realised the extent of the scam. A complaint was made at the concerned station after the victim met SP Gwalior Dharmveer Singh and explained his ordeal. An investigation has been launched.
