The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested two members of a gang accused of defrauding individuals across India using the so-called ‘digital arrest’ scheme, officials said.
Uttarakhand STF Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh confirmed the operation, stating that the suspects were apprehended in Srinagar (Budgam), Jammu and Kashmir. The arrested individuals have been identified as Shaukat Hussain Malik and Bilal Ahmad Malla.
The operation followed a complaint filed by a 71-year-old resident of Dehradun at the Cyber Police Station. According to the complaint, the victim received a call on November 21, 2025, from an unknown number. The caller allegedly impersonated a telecom department official and claimed that a fraud case had been registered against him in Delhi.
The victim later received a WhatsApp video call during which the fraudsters, pretending to be officers from the CBI and Delhi Police, accused him of money laundering and claimed to place him under a ‘digital arrest’. According to the victim, he was threatened and coerced into transferring Rs 65 lakh across multiple bank accounts.
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Following the complaint, the STF set a trap to track the gang members, successfully apprehending Malik and Malla in Srinagar. Both suspects are now in custody, and further investigations are ongoing to identify additional members of the gang operating across the country.
The case draws attention to a wider concern highlighted by the Supreme Court on March 20, when it verbally noted that certain entities on social media, masquerading as media persons, act as blackmailers and engage in ‘digital arrest’. The remarks were made by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant after Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta explained that some individuals running tabloids and online platforms were exploiting their position to coerce people.
“It is another format of something like digital arrest. Unfortunately, still not being treated as a crime,” the Chief Justice remarked. The court was hearing a public interest litigation highlighting the actions of police forces in Haryana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Assam.
The PIL pointed out that these states were uploading media content—photos and short-form videos (reels) showing accused persons being handcuffed, tied, beaten with sticks, kneeling, or dragged down stairs—on official social media pages, raising concerns about misuse of authority and potential violation of individual rights.
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