Elderly couple gets back 65L lost to e-arrest crooks
Times of India | 14 November 2025
Kolkata: A Netaji Nagar couple, aged 84 and 77, who lost Rs 1.8 crore to a digital-arrest fraud last July, had Rs 65 lakh recovered on Wednesday by the Kolkata Police cybercrime division.
The recovery came on the same day Kolkata Police arrested a key member of a fake call centre at Minto Park that allegedly ran digital-arrest and extortion rackets, along with fake friendship-club operations. The gang is suspected to have defrauded at least Rs 14 crore and may be linked to cases like the one involving the Netaji Nagar couple.
In an email to the police commissioner, the couple wrote: "I would like to inform you that my wife (77) and I (84) were victims of digital-arrest frauds, leading to a loss of Rs 1.8 crore — our entire lifetime's savings. An FIR was lodged at Netaji Nagar PS on July 13, and later the case was transferred to the South Suburban cyber cell. The cyber cell, led by Sergeant Sanjoy Saha, has recovered around Rs 65 lakh so far. The help and cooperation we received from the beginning is praiseworthy."
The accused, Riya Roy (30) of Liluah's Bamongachi, was arrested with two mobile phones containing electronic evidence and seven pages of WhatsApp screenshots seized under a proper seizure list.
Earlier, the cyber cell had busted another fraudulent Minto Park operation involving 17 people, mostly women, who duped victims across India and Bangladesh through fake dating and matrimonial apps. "They lured victims with false promises of companionship and matrimony, then persuaded them to transfer money," said joint CP (crime) Rupesh Kumar. The scammers allegedly used forged payment receipts, fake WhatsApp screenshots and fabricated electronic documents, with frauds estimated at over Rs 14 crore.
Following a recent case in which a senior citizen from Parnasree lost Rs 3 crore to digital-arrest fraud, cops released a 17-second awareness video urging residents, especially senior citizens, to verify such calls before responding. The video is now being widely shared across states.