LUCKNOW, Aug. 19 -- A cyber fraud investigation into the alleged "digital arrest" of a Lucknow couple for 18 days has opened a trail stretching from India to Cambodia, the UAE and China, with WhatsApp and IP data pointing to locations in the three countries, police said on Wednesday.

Investigators are now piecing together the overseas digital trail with six mobile numbers and six bank accounts allegedly used to siphon off Rs.42.09 lakh from the 70-year-old retired FCI employee and his wife. Police have so far managed to freeze or place a hold on Rs.13.83 lakh of the amount.

The development comes two days after the couple's ordeal, in which fraudsters allegedly posed as ATS, NIA and CBI officers and threatened to implicate them in the Pu...