Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police has arrested a person from Telangana on charges of duping a Berhampur resident of Rs 1 crore by threatening him with ‘digital arrest’.

The arrested has been identified as Abdul Saleem (33), son of Abdul Raseed, of Nizambad in Telangana.  

According to CB, some fraudsters, impersonating as TRAI and police personnel from Mumbai Cyber Crime Division, contacted one Ashok Kumar Behera (69) of Berhampur some days ago. They informed Behera that the mobile number linked to his Aadhaar card has been used for procurement of illegal arms and drugs.

The callers also told Behera that the telephone number has been used to issue threat calls to some people in Maharashtra. They threatened that Behera would be imprisoned for a period ranging from three to seven years due to the alleged illegal activities.

The fraudsters also threatened to put Behera under ‘digital arrest’ and asked him to transfer his savings to their bank accounts for verification.

Unable to bear the mental pressure, Behera transferred Rs 1 crore in two phases to an account as suggested by the fraudsters.    

Behera had lodged a complaint with police after the callers did not return the money.

The CB had launched a probe into the incident after registering a case in this regard under various Sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act.

The officials successfully identified the Telangana man and arrested him after verifying the bank details and other documents furnished by the complainant.

The CB officials have seized a mobile phone, three Indian SIM cards, one Saudi Arabia SIM card, a bank passbook, passport, Aadhaar card, PAN card, six debit cards and a credit card.

The accused would be produced in a local court in Telangana and brought to Odisha on transit remand, said the CB.

The CB officials, meanwhile, revealed that the accused had visited Saudi Arabia twice in 2017 and 2024.