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The CBI carried out searches at 89 locations across 20 states on 4 September 2026 under Operation Chakra-VI, targeting digital arrest fraud networks.
Three accused were arrested for receiving, layering and dispersing proceeds of cyber fraud in three cases involving about Rs 42.36 crore.
The three underlying cases involved victims held under 'digital detention' for periods ranging from one to three months, with losses of Rs 7.67 crore, Rs 19.24 crore and Rs 15.45 crore.
The Supreme Court had directed the CBI to act against the perpetrators and the wider networks facilitating such offences.
There is no legal concept of 'digital arrest' in Indian law — the term describes a fraud technique, not a police power.
A fraud in which criminals impersonate police, CBI or other officials, accuse the victim of a crime, and hold them on a continuous video or phone call until money is transferred. Indian law recognises no such form of custody.
Simple Analogy: A fake policeman who never comes to your door but never lets you put the phone down.
India's premier investigating agency, created by a Ministry of Home Affairs resolution of 1 April 1963. It is not a statutory body — it draws its police powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, and needs state consent to investigate within a state.
MHA body that coordinates the national response to cybercrime; runs the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) and the 1930 financial-fraud helpline. Scheme approved 5 October 2018; dedicated to the nation on 10 January 2020.
International police cooperation organisation used in Operation Chakra for information sharing, tracing funds moved abroad and coordinating action on transnational networks; the CBI is India's National Central Bureau for INTERPOL.
The CBI functions under the administrative control of DoPT in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions — not the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The statute from which the CBI derives its power to investigate. Section 6 requires the consent of a state government before the CBI can exercise jurisdiction in that state.
Amended the DSPE Act to provide that the CBI Director is appointed on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or a judge nominated by the CJI.
Fixed a minimum two-year tenure for the CBI Director; the tenure may be extended in one-year increments up to a total of five years.
Provides the offences and procedural powers for computer-related fraud, identity theft and impersonation used in cyber-fraud prosecutions.
Operation Chakra launched by the CBI against organised transnational cybercrime, initially targeting tech-support and OTP frauds.
Chakra-II dismantles a cyber-enabled financial crime network run from call centres targeting overseas victims.
Chakra-III: searches at 32 locations including Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ahmedabad; 26 persons arrested and Rs 58.45 lakh in cash seized.
Chakra-V: searches at 42 locations across 8 states against a SIM-fraud and digital arrest network.
Chakra-VI begins with 60 special teams searching across 16 states; shell companies and mule accounts identified.
Chakra-VI expanded to 89 locations in 20 states in three digital arrest cases; three arrested over Rs 42.36 crore.
GS Paper 3 > Internal Security: Challenges through Communication Networks, Money Laundering; GS Paper 2 > Statutory and Regulatory Bodies
General Awareness > Financial Frauds, KYC and Mule Accounts, Cyber Security
General Awareness > Current Events and Organisations
A bank account, usually opened in another person's name or rented out, used to receive and pass on the proceeds of fraud so the trail is broken.
The stage of money laundering in which illicit funds are moved through multiple accounts and transactions to obscure their origin.
A scam in which fraudsters impersonating officials keep a victim on a continuous call under threat of arrest until money is transferred; no such custody exists in Indian law.
The national contact point for INTERPOL in each member country; in India this role is performed by the CBI.