Doctor loses ₹1.19 crore in alleged digital arrest scam in Keralam’s Kasaragod; accused nabbed from Hyderabad airport

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The Kasaragod cyber police arrested a man from the Hyderabad airport for his alleged role in a digital arrest scam in which an 80-year-old doctor was reportedly threatened and forced to transfer ₹1.19 crore from his bank accounts.

The accused is Shamsad Choorakuth, a native of Edayathur in Malattur, Malappuram. The alleged fraud took place between November 24 and December 17, 2025, when Shamsad and his associates allegedly contacted the doctor, a native of Nileswaram in Kasaragod, over the phone and WhatsApp video calls. They reportedly impersonated officials of the Mumbai Crime Branch and told him that he was involved in a money laundering case and had been placed under ‘digital arrest’. The accused reportedly made the man transfer ₹1,19,35,000 from various bank accounts to their accounts “to clear his name”.

Following a complaint, the Kasaragod cyber police registered a case and launched an investigation, which revealed that Shamsad was working abroad. The police subsequently issued a Lookout Circular against him.

Acting on information that Shamsad had been detained by the immigration authorities upon his arrival at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on September 17, the cyber police team from Kasaragod travelled there and took him into custody.

After recording his arrest, the police team produced him before the Kasaragod Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, which remanded him in Judicial custody for 14 days.

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