Belagavi businessman loses Rs 15 crore in digital arrest cyber fraud

An elderly businessman in Belagavi lost Rs 15 crore in a digital arrest cyber fraud after scammers posed as officials and forced fund transfers. Police have frozen some accounts as similar cases continue to rise across Karnataka

Belagavi (Karnataka): An elderly businessman in Belagavi has lost Rs 15 crore after falling victim to a cyber fraud involving a so-called “digital arrest,” police said on Saturday.

A complaint was registered at the Belagavi City Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police station. Following the investigation, police have frozen bank accounts linked to the accused, including one containing Rs 90 lakh from the defrauded amount.

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Belagavi Police Commissioner Borse Bhushan Rao Gulabrao has constituted a special team to trace and arrest the culprits.

According to police, the fraudsters contacted the victim through a video call and falsely claimed that his bank account had been flagged in a money laundering case. They threatened him with legal action, alleging his involvement in illegal financial activities.

The accused then instructed the businessman to transfer his funds to multiple bank accounts for “verification,” assuring him that the money would be returned after the completion of the investigation. Trusting their claims, the victim transferred money in phases, ultimately losing Rs 15 crore.

The incident began on March 18, when the businessman was first targeted. He grew suspicious only after the fraudsters became unreachable and subsequently approached the police.

It may be recalled that, on March 8, a 94-year-old research scholar filed a complaint after losing nearly Rs 5 crore to a digital arrest scam in Karnataka.

In another case, a 78-year-old woman from Indiranagar in east Bengaluru lost Rs 38 lakh to cyber fraudsters who posed as officials from the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and kept her under “digital arrest” before forcing her to transfer money.

According to the complaint lodged at the East Division Cybercrime Police, the victim, a resident of Indiranagar, received a phone call on March 11 around 3 p.m. from a mobile number claiming that her documents had been misused in a money-laundering and pornography case.

According to the Karnataka Home Department, the state lost Rs 11.6 crore to digital arrest fraud between January and February 2026, of which Rs 25.2 lakh has been recovered. Between January 2023 and February 2026, digital arrest scams have extorted more than Rs 468.6 crore from victims.

In 2023, 196 digital arrest cases were reported, with losses amounting to Rs 22.5 crore, of which Rs 2.3 crore was recovered. In 2024, 1,129 cases were reported, and victims lost Rs 219.4 crore, with Rs 27.8 crore recovered. In 2025, 345 cases were reported, and authorities were able to recover only Rs 10.7 crore.

Home Minister G. Parameshwara has stated that the government had issued orders for the speedy investigation of cybercrimes. He further stated that there are 45 CEN stations in the state, and it is in Karnataka that the country’s first cybercrime police station was established in 2010.