PANAJI: Goa Cyber Crime Police have arrested a 20-year-old man from Maharashtra in connection with an alleged ‘digital arrest’ scam that resulted in a Canacona resident losing ₹42.60 lakh.
The accused, identified as Tejas Narhare from Nanded, was arrested after investigators conducted a technical and financial probe into the fraud.
According to police, the victim was allegedly contacted between January 30 and February 21, 2026, by Narhare and his associates, who posed as officials from the Department of Telecommunications and crime branch officers from Delhi and Mumbai.
The suspects allegedly claimed that the victim’s Aadhaar details had been misused in a criminal case involving alleged illegal activities linked to Jet Airways officials.
The victim was then allegedly placed under a fake ‘digital arrest’ and pressured into transferring ₹42,60,094.40 to avoid arrest and settle the fabricated case.
Police traced Narhare to Nanded during the investigation. A Cyber Crime Police team led by PSI Navin Naik, along with police constables Yash Kole and Sidramayya Math, under PI Deepak Pednekar, arrested him.
Investigators found that ₹10 lakh of the defrauded money had allegedly reached a bank account linked to Narhare at the second stage of the money trail. The amount was later withdrawn through a self-cheque.
Narhare was produced before a court and remanded to police custody.
Police are now investigating the wider money trail and working to identify the other individuals allegedly involved in the fraud.
