The CBI on Friday arrested three persons after conducting searches at seven locations across Odisha and Rajasthan in connection with a digital arrest scam in which a retired government employee was swindled out of ₹2.07 crore.

The accused were identified as Bibekananda Dixit and Jayant Kumar Acharya from Balasore, Odisha, and Kanhaiya Lal from Nagaur, Rajasthan. “The trio were allegedly involved in conning a Jalandhar-based retired government employee who was coerced into transferring ₹2.07 crore under the threat of digital arrest,” said a CBI official.

A probe revealed that the proceeds of crime were routed into a bank account opened in the name of a trust. The accused were actively involved in layering and transferring the proceeds of crime from the victim through multiple accounts, the official said.

Last week, the agency raided over 80 locations across the country and arrested two persons, including one from Calcutta, in connection with more than 200 cases of digital arrests involving crores of rupees.

India has lost more than ₹52,000 crore to cyber fraud over the past five years. In February, the Supreme Court said the siphoning of such a large sum from April 2021 to November 2025 through online fraud such as digital arrests amounted to “absolute robbery or dacoity”.

Recently, the CBI unearthed a fraudulent website with a URL similar to the official website of the Supreme Court. The fraudsters allegedly used the fraudulently registered domain to deceive victims under the guise of digital arrest. Based on a complaint received from the registry of the apex court, the agency registered an FIR and started an investigation.

The fraudsters allegedly exploited public trust
by creating forged documents that closely resembled
official court orders, warrants and notices on the URL, mimicking the Supreme Court website.