Kozhikode: The City Cyber police on Wednesday arrested two Rajasthan natives in a case of extorting Rs 4.08 crore from a doctor in Kozhikode through cyber fraud. The main accused, Sunil Dangi (48), and co-accused, Sheetal Kumar Mehta (28), were strategically arrested from Badi Sadri in Rajasthan.

Sunil Dangi contacted the complainant through WhatsApp in January, posing as Amith. He convinced the doctor that he lost his job during COVID-19 and that his family faced a financial crisis and needed help. Later, he used to fabricate various situations and send fake photos, voice messages and other information to exploit the doctor's sympathy for his situation and extort huge sums of money.

From January 31 to August 23, the accused extorted Rs 4,08,80,457 from the doctor in instalments. When the doctor asked for his money, Sunil said he would sell his family property and return the amount. However, the accused continued to extort money from the complainant, saying there was a communal riot-like situation in connection with the sale of land and that there was a death by suicide and a murder.

The scam was discovered when the doctor's son found the bank transaction details. The doctor then complained to the Kozhikode City Cyber police, who conducted a scientific investigation and reached the accused in Rajasthan.

The investigation team found that Sunil Dangi had laundered the money through bank accounts of several gambling centres and Sheetal Kumar Mehta's account.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the extorted money was being spent in casinos and online gambling and gaming sites in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The team seized the accused's mobile phones, bank account details, and chequebooks used in the crime. The police team also recovered details of WhatsApp chats and bank transactions with the complainant from the mobile phones.

On the instructions of Kozhikode City Deputy Police Commissioner Arun K Pavithran, Cyber Crime Police Station SHO Ankit Singh supervised the probe. The investigation team led by Inspector K R Ranjith included Assistant Sub Inspectors Jithesh Vellangot and Rajesh Chalikkara and Senior Civil Police Officers K M Naufal and K R Fabin.