Mumbai: Aurangabad based businessman granted bail in Rs 58 crore ‘digital arrest’ fraud

Mumbai: The sessions court granted bail to Aurangabad based businessman Chisti Ahteshamuddin, one of the accused in a Rs 58.1 crore fake "digital arrest" scam, saying the trial will take considerable time and till that uncertain period the applicant cannot be kept in jail.The case pertains to a complaint lodged by a senior citizen who alleged that cyber fraudsters posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), falsely accused him of illegal activities and placed him under a so-called "digital arrest." Under threats of legal action, he was coerced into transferring Rs 58.1 crore to multiple bank accounts.Additional Sessions Judge Nitin V. Jiwane further said, "After going through the allegations levelled against the applicant and the contention of the applicants along with the documents filed on record, it reveals that there were some business transactions between applicant and absconding accused Riyaz Rabbani. The WhatsApp chat e-mail relied on by the applicant corroborates the contention of the applicant regarding the business transaction since prior to the commissioning of the offence. Therefore, at this stage of the proceeding, it cannot be said that the said amount received in the bank account of the applicant was not the amount of business transaction.'"Chisti's lawyer Mobin Solkar in defence argued that the transactions were linked to legitimate business dealings with the main accused, Rabbani, who owed him money. He produced WhatsApp chats, emails, and financial records to support his claim that the money was part of an investment repayment.Police have arrested 33 people including businessmen from Mumbai, Gujarat and Aurangabad in the case and a chargesheet has been filed.