The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar, has arrested Sohel Akthar alias Raju from Kolkata after conducting search raids in connection with the alleged digital arrest of Ludhiana-based industrialist SP Oswal.
In a release on Thursday, the agency said Akthar had been arrested under the PMLA on September 28. After a Kolkata court granted transit remand, he was brought to Jalandhar. The Special PMLA Court in Jalandhar has remanded the accused to custody till October 6. The agency is now expected to question him during custodial interrogation to establish his alleged role in the crime and trace the money trail.
Oswal, chairman of the Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group, was put under digital arrest in August 2023 by fraudsters who impersonated CBI officers and extorted Rs 7 crore from him. ED had started its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime police station, Ludhiana. Nine additional FIRs related to cybercrime involving digital arrest by the same group were also included in the investigation.
According to the agency, the proceeds of crime were initially credited to the bank accounts of M/s Rigglo Ventures Pvt Ltd and M/s Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics. Bank accounts of Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics were controlled by Rumi Kalita of Guwahati and Arpit Rathore of Kanpur. An APK application ‘AMMFORWARD’ was used by the accused for speedy routing of the proceeds of crime. Arpit Rathore had provided various mule accounts to persons belonging to Cambodia and Vietnam and received commission in the form of cryptocurrency in his Binance account. Rumi Kalita and Arpit Rathore were arrested in December 2025.
The ED inquiry has revealed that the bank accounts of Rigglo Ventures were controlled and operated by Akhtar, who was the principal handler involved in recruiting people and arranging mule bank accounts belonging to individuals and entities. It was found that mobile phones had pre-loaded APK files which were used with SIM cards linked to the bank accounts of Rigglo Ventures and other entities. The APK files were activated on the mobile phones, enabling their Nepal-based associates to access OTPs and other SMS messages on their respective mobile devices. This arrangement facilitated the expeditious routing of proceeds of crime through the said bank accounts, the agency found.
It was found that the proceeds were moved through various mule accounts in amounts ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, followed by immediate cash withdrawals. The mule accounts were opened by luring economically vulnerable individuals with false promises of arranging loans or providing employment. The investigation also found the alleged use of end-to-end encrypted private messaging applications to share mule bank-account details with foreign-based associates.
ED had earlier provisionally attached assets worth Rs 1.76 crore in the case and filed a prosecution complaint against Rumi Kalita, Arpit Rathore, Anand Chaudhary, Atanu Chaudhary and Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics on February 19.
