Extortion through WhatsApp call: Prime suspect arrested in Bengaluru

KOLLAM: The prime suspect who extorted money from a Kollam native by threatening her through a WhatsApp call has been arrested by the Kollam West Police in Bengaluru. The accused, Mohammed Shadarsha (31), hails from Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram. His accomplice, S.S. Arun (25) from Chenkal, Thiruvananthapuram, had been arrested a few days earlier. Information provided by Arun led to Shadarsha’s arrest. With this, the total number of arrests in the case rose to six.

In mid-December, a government employee from Kollam received a WhatsApp call from a person impersonating the DCP of the Mumbai Cyber Crime Police Station. The caller falsely claimed that the employee was suspected of being involved in a money laundering syndicate and that a case had been registered against her. To avoid further legal action, the victim was threatened and coerced into transferring their entire account balance to a Reserve Bank account for verification. Believing the scam, the employee transferred over Rs 5 lakh to the account specified by the fraudsters, expecting the money to be returned within three days. When the amount was not refunded, a complaint was lodged with the Kollam West Police.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the money had initially been transferred to an account in West Bengal before being routed through two accounts in Thiruvananthapuram. Further inquiries led to the arrests of Ajith (25) from Kulathoor, Kochuveli native Arunlal (21), Kulathoor native Sudheesh (25) and Kulathoor native Benjamin (25)-all part of the fraud network. Information obtained from these suspects resulted in the arrests of S.S. Arun and Mohammed Shadarsha.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of Kollam ACP S. Shareef, with Kollam West Police Inspector Fayaz leading the investigation. The arrest team included Sub-Inspectors Saritha, Ansar Khan, Hasan Kunju, and SCPOs Deepu Das, Ratheesh Kumar, and Sreelal.