ED Attaches ₹16.86 Lakh in Major Srinagar ‘Digital Arrest’ Cyber Fraud Case

SRINAGAR, March 23, 2026 — The Srinagar Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets totaling ₹16,86,465 in connection with a sophisticated “digital arrest” cyber fraud operation.

The action, taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, targets funds held in a New Delhi bank account under the name of M/s Jeevika Foundations at HDFC Bank, Karol Bagh. Investigations identified the account operator as Gaurav Kumar, who, along with associates Gurpreet Singh and Ujwal Chauhan, allegedly orchestrated a racket that impersonated high-ranking officials from agencies such as the TRAI and CBI to extort money from unsuspecting citizens.

The case originated from an FIR filed by the Cyber Police Station, Kashmir Zone, after a victim was psychologically coerced into believing they were under investigation for money laundering linked to national security. Under the threat of immediate arrest, the victim was pressured to liquidate fixed deposits and transfer ₹21,00,000 to the fraudulent conduit account.

While the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Srinagar previously secured a refund of ₹4,13,535 for the complainant in late 2024, the ED has now frozen the remaining traceable “proceeds of crime” to prevent further diversion.

This enforcement action highlights the growing crackdown on digital extortion schemes that leverage fear and impersonation to defraud the public.