New Delhi, 1 December (H.S.): The Supreme Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday to probe all registered cases of digital arrest frauds, underscoring the urgent need to combat this growing menace. The court granted the CBI complete autonomy to investigate bankers linked to accounts used in cybercrimes and instructed the Reserve Bank of India to assist in deploying AI or machine learning for identifying and freezing suspicious accounts.

States yet to grant consent for CBI probes in their jurisdictions received directives to permit investigations specifically into digital arrest cases.During the hearing, the court-appointed amicus curiae outlined three prevalent cyber fraud categories: digital arrests, investment scams, and part-time job ruses, noting how victims are coerced into making large investments.

The court observed that these crimes often involve forged judicial documents targeting innocent citizens, particularly senior citizens, and stressed the need for better coordination between the Centre and state police.The order follows the Supreme Court's suo motu cognizance on October 17, triggered by a letter from an elderly couple in Ambala who reported being defrauded of over one crore rupees through a fake arrest scheme.

The couple described receiving a forged court order stamped with official seals via audio-video calls, falsely claiming their arrest and surveillance from September 3 to 16, followed by multiple bank transactions to extract the funds. The court had noted this as part of a broader pattern highlighted in media reports.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar