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A first in UP: Man gets jail term in ‘digital arrest’ scam
The accused, Devashish Rai, 35, a resident of Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar and a native of Azamgarh, as convicted under multiple IPC sections including cheating, forgery and impersonation, as well as under the IT Act
LUCKNOW In a first-of-its-kind conviction in Uttar Pradesh, the CJM court in Lucknow awarded multiple jail terms to a man who impersonated a CBI officer and duped a KGMU doctor of ₹85 lakh in May last year by falsely accusing her of involvement in a money laundering case and threatening her with a ‘digital arrest’. The jail terms will run concurrently.
The accused, Devashish Rai, 35, a resident of Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar and a native of Azamgarh, was convicted under multiple IPC sections including cheating, forgery and impersonation, as well as under the IT Act. He had been behind bars since May 2024.
“This is also India’s first such cyber fraud case of ‘digital arrest’ where the accused was granted no bail for the entire duration of approximately one year till the court sentenced him. Usually, an accused is granted bail, however, in this the case the cyber crime team of Lucknow police made efforts that the accused doesn’t get bail,” DCP (crime) Kamlesh dixit told HT.
BK Yadav, SHO, Cyber Crime police station, Lucknow said this is the first conviction in a ‘digital arrest’ cybercrime case in the state.
The cyber fraudster had posed as a customs officer and then a CBI official during a series of video calls, claiming the victim’s name had surfaced in a case involving fake passports, ATM cards and 140 grams of MDMA (a psychoactive drug).
“Terrified, Saumya Gupta, a doctor at KGMU, was manipulated over 10 days into transferring ₹85 lakh to various bank accounts, under the threat of digital detention. The fraud was executed using forged documents, fake telecom IDs and shell bank accounts created under a false identity,” the SHO added.
“Following a swift investigation by the Lucknow Cyber Crime police station, Rai was arrested from Mandakini Apartments in Gomti Nagar within five days of the complaint on May 5, 2024. The charge sheet was filed by August 2 and a fast-track trial was conducted at the special CJM (customs) court. The prosecution officers were Ajay Kumar Yadav and Mashindra Chauhan,” stated a release shared by Lucknow Police’s cyber police station.
VERDICT ON JULY 16
Devashish Rai sentenced under following sections:
• IPC 419: 2 years + ₹2,000 fine
• IPC 420: 5 years + ₹3,000 fine
• IPC 467: 7 years + ₹5,000 fine
• IPC 468: 5 years + ₹3,000 fine
• IPC 471: 7 years + ₹5,000 fine
• IT Act Section 66D: 2 years + ₹50,000 fine
