The Chandigarh Police Said Friday they have busted a sophisticated digital arrest “scam” operated by a transnational cybercrime syndicate based in cambodia southeast asian Countries, Punjab and Uttar Predesh.

Officers of the Cyber Crime Police Station Arrested the suspects after lodging a first information report (FIR) registered on July 21 under variable sections of the bharatiya naya sanhita (bns). They also said Rs 36.98 Lakh has been frozen across the Various Bank Accounts Linked To the Suspects.

They say Said Details of the accused and the equipment they have been shared with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to Determine their possessible links with Other Cases Across India.

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The police said the alleged scam came to light after manjeet behl, a senior citizen and wife of late brigadier amarjit singh behl, lodged a complaint, saying she was duped of Rs 1.01 crore aftering threes. Followed by a whatsapp video call from someone posing as a CBI officer.

The caller falsely accused her of being involved in a money laundering case link to her aadhaar number and bank details. The fraudsters shared fake documents, including forged government notices and a fabricated bank passbook, with her.

During the video call, a fake police station setup was displayed to intimidate her into transferring her life savings into accounts claimed to be “safe custody.”

Modus operandi

Investigations reveles the alleged scam was being orchestrated from southeast asian counties like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Hong Kong. The Fraudters used devices knowledge as sim boxes, which one name lakhs of IVR calls per day by converting internet-based calls into local mobile calls, thereby bypassing teolcom tracking.

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Geetanjali Khandwal, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime, Who Headed The Probe, Said Victims Across India Targetted By People Impressive Officials Fom The Center Breau of Investigation (CB). Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Or Courier Companies Like FedEx, And Each Sard Plugged Into Thie Devices Could Over 1,500 Calls Per Day.

The syndicate was estimated to be causing losses of Nearly Rs 1,000 croore to the Indian Economy Every month, Said the police.

According to the police, Indians were lured via Facebook and telegram with promises of work-after-home jobs. They were then Recruited to Operate The Sim Boxes by Providing Internet Connectivity, Uninterruped Power Supply, And SIM Cards, With All Activity Monitored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Remotored Handle Handlers Through Group.

Fake point of sale operations

Acting on Technical Leads and Approvals, Chandigarh Police Launched A Series of Coordinated Raids in Meerut, Ludhiana, and Amritsar.

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In Meerut, Parvez Chauhan was arrested with a Sim box, Wi-Fi Router, and over 70 SIM cards. He admitted to earning 50 USDT per day in cryptocurrency for routing international scam calls.

In ludhiana, vijay kumar Shah and krishna Shah, Two men of nepalese origin, were arrested for their fraudulent point -of-sale (PS) operations Without their knowledge. These sims were late to akash kumar, who distributed them further.

The police then arrested Suhail Akhtar, who confessed to purchasing sims from kumar, and supplying them to shubham mehra alias sunny. They searched a Rented Property in Amritsar Where Mehra was operating a sim box facility. The police seized six high-end simboxes (dinstar brand), over 400 sim cards, 11 mobile phones, laptops, routers, and models.

The police said mehra admitted he was recruited through a facebook ad and telegram by foreign nationals, and was paid Rs 25,000 in cashly for managing the information.

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The chain extended to Ajit Kumar, Vipin Kumar, Saroj Kumar, and Abhishek Kumar, who were involved in sourcing and financing the illegal sim operations. Vipin Provided Financial Backing, While Saroj and Abhishek, Both Pos Agents, Activated Sims, Which Later Used in Cyber Frauds.

The police said their probe also reveles a human trafficking angle. Between 2022 and 2025, Nearly 3,000 Indian Citizens Were Rescued from Countries like Cambodia and Laos, where they have lured by fake job offers and open to operate Cyber Scams Unde DURES DURES, incaludal. Arrest Model.