Police have arrested three persons from Telengana, including father and a son, for syphoning off ₹15 lakh from a retired government employee in the guise of releasing him from ‘digital arrest’.
According to police, two strangers, who contacted the retired Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation official from Perumalpuram in Palayamkottai over the phone a few days ago, introduced themselves as ‘police officers’, told him that he was under ‘digital arrest’ for ‘having involved in money laundering’. They also warned him against sharing this information with anyone else and moving out of the town.
Even as the retired official remained indoors, the strangers contacted him again after two days and instructed him to send a huge amount through online transfer to ‘release’ him from the ‘digital arrest’. As the strangers asked him more money even after extracting ₹15 lakh in several instalments, the victim approached the Cyber Crime Wing police, who found that the amount had been transferred to the accounts of Sai Siddharth, 26, of Khammam district in Telengana and his father Thagaram Srinivas, 51.
A police team that went to Telengana arrested Sai Siddharth, Srinivas and their associate Sai Kiran, 36, also from Khammam distirct, who was hiding in Hyderabad. The trio was arrested and brought to Tirunelveli for inquiry.
Published – February 11, 2026 06:31 pm IST
