The Cyber Crime Police of Karnataka have recently detained two individuals in Hyderabad as part of an investigation into a fraudulent scheme involving a staggering Rs 15.45 crore. This case revolves around a businessman from Belagavi who was reportedly intimidated into transferring funds after scammers impersonated high-ranking officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and fabricated a story about a serious money-laundering inquiry that implicated him with Naresh Goyal, the former promoter of Jet Airways.
The arrests followed a thorough inquiry triggered by a complaint filed on March 18 at the Belagavi City Cyber Crime Police Station. The suspects, named Venkatesh Sharath Naik and Degavat Sripada Naik, both of whom reside in Hyderabad, were captured during a coordinated operation by the Cyber Crime Unit. They were subsequently presented before a court in Belagavi on April 7.
According to investigators, the incident began when Ajit Gopalakrishna Saraf, a businessman living in Tilakwadi, Belagavi, was contacted via phone by individuals pretending to be CBI officials. One of the callers, posing as a senior officer, alleged that SIM cards registered under Saraf’s name were involved in illicit activities and further escalated the situation by falsely claiming that he was being investigated for money laundering in connection to Naresh Goyal.
The fraudsters executed what they described as a ‘digital arrest’, a coercive method frequently employed in cyber frauds that simulates legal detention through video calls and incessant surveillance, coupled with threats of immediate incarceration. Under this extreme psychological duress, Saraf was allegedly coerced into transferring Rs 15.45 crore via RTGS transactions between February 7 and March 9, 2026.
Financial tracking revealed that the misappropriated funds were funneled through at least ten primary beneficiary accounts dispersed across various states, including Telangana, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and West Bengal.
A significant breakthrough occurred when investigators traced Rs 2 crore to a joint current account in Hyderabad, which led them to the suspects. Authorities discovered that the accused had received this amount into their joint bank account, which was part of the illicit proceeds, and had also permitted access to this account, including checkbooks and online banking credentials, to another individual believed to be the primary orchestrator of the operation, who is currently on the run.
Authorities speculate that the suspects served as first-layer account holders in the financial trail and were integral to a broader network of mule accounts used to receive and distribute the proceeds from the cyber fraud, obscuring their origins through multiple layers.
Ongoing investigations are focused on tracking the entire financial trail, identifying additional beneficiaries, and scrutinizing digital evidence, which includes communications and devices utilized in the scam. Cybercrime units from various states are collaborating to map out the extensive network, and efforts are underway to freeze and recover the misappropriated funds.
Officials from the Karnataka DGP Cyber Command Unit, which is leading the investigation, emphasized that no government agency, including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), or state police, engages in digital arrests, video-call interrogations, or requests money transfers for verification or investigations. They cautioned the public that such scams exploit impersonation, fear, and psychological manipulation to extort money from victims.
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