Bengaluru couple conned of ₹4.75 crore in ‘digital arrest’ scam, cybercrime trail spans three countries

In a chilling case of psychological manipulation and international cybercrime, Bengaluru police have arrested two individuals linked to a ₹4.75 crore fraud that left a retired engineer and his wife from BTM Layout virtually imprisoned in their own home under a so-called “digital arrest.”

The arrests triggered by a tip-off from cybercrime investigators in Chennai have unraveled a sophisticated scam stretching across India, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. The two arrested accused, Eshwar Singh and Ramnarayan Chowdhary, both from Hyderabad, are believed to be part of a broader network used by cybercriminals to launder stolen funds.

Police say the victims, a senior couple, were contacted by fraudsters in March and falsely accused of involvement in money laundering. Coerced into secrecy and convinced they were complying with legal directives, they transferred ₹4.75 crore over several months — pledging even their property papers — without informing their son or daughter, who live in Bengaluru.

“They were digitally isolated and psychologically controlled. It’s a classic case of manipulation using fear of the law,” said DCP Sarah Fathima, Bengaluru Southeast, who is leading the probe.

The trail began in Chennai, where cybercrime officers, investigating an unrelated case, flagged suspicious activity involving a Bengaluru resident. This led to the discovery of the elderly couple’s victimization and triggered a deeper probe.

The first breakthrough came when police tracked a ₹10 lakh transaction to a Hyderabad bank account. The account holder claimed the funds were meant for his landlord, Eshwar Singh—a self-proclaimed casino regular who had reportedly fled to Sri Lanka.

Singh was intercepted at Hyderabad airport upon his return. During questioning, he claimed the money was part of a refund from a Sri Lankan casino. Investigators, however, found that he had made 33 trips to the same casino, once purchasing ₹25 lakh in coupons and losing ₹15 lakh.

Because of irregularities in his tax filings, Singh had instructed the casino to transfer any refunds to his tenant’s account instead of his own—an unusual request the casino honored. Police now suspect cybercriminals used this same account to receive the defrauded funds from the Bengaluru couple.

“The overlap is too precise to ignore. We believe this account was used to channel funds from multiple victims,” said a senior officer involved in the case.

The second accused, Ramnarayan Chowdhary, owns a departmental store in Hyderabad. Investigators believe he was gradually drawn in by fraudsters posing as customers, who later exploited his bank accounts to launder money stolen from victims across the country.

Authorities are now probing whether the Sri Lankan casino and Cambodia-based entities were knowingly complicit or simply used as financial conduits by the cybercrime syndicate. “The web runs deep—international laundering, digital coercion, and local enablers all feeding into one massive operation,” said an officer.

Further arrests are expected as the investigation widens.