The Bombay High Court's Aurangabad bench has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a man whose bank account allegedly received ₹4.03 crore out of ₹7.17 crore siphoned off from a doctor in a digital arrest cyber fraud case.

The bench headed by Justice RM Joshi held that custodial interrogation was necessary to investigate the alleged cyber fraud, trace the money trail and identify the actual perpetrators.
The case arose from an FIR registered in Maharashtra after a doctor was allegedly coerced into transferring ₹7.17 crore in a digital arrest scam.

During the investigation, the police found that ₹4.03 crore of the defrauded amount had been directly credited to the bank account of the accused, Anuj Saxena, and was subsequently withdrawn.

Seeking anticipatory bail, Saxena claimed that he ran a charitable institution and had shared his bank account details after being promised a donation of ₹20 lakh. He also alleged that his mobile phone had been hacked. However, the Court noted that there was no evidence on record to substantiate his claim that his phone had been hacked.

Rejecting his plea, Justice Joshi underscored the growing seriousness of digital arrest scams and the need to deal firmly with such offences.

“The offence in question is serious in nature. Needless to say that there is increase in the number of persons being defrauded by digital arrests,” the Court observed.
The Court also cautioned against accepting unverified explanations from individuals whose bank accounts receive proceeds of cybercrime.

“Any frivolous or afterthought explanation by the persons whose accounts are credited with crime money would amount to lend encouragement to commission of such crimes,” it stated.

The Court concluded that custodial interrogation was essential in such cases to investigate the offence, trace the individuals involved and identify the actual perpetrators.

Advocate PR Dubey appeared for Saxena, while Additional Public Prosecutor RP Gour represented the State.

Case Title: Anuj Saxena v. State & Anr.