Ludhiana, Oct. 2 -- The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Jalandhar zonal office has arrested Sohel Akthar alias Raju from Kolkata in connection with a Rs.7-crore digital arrest fraud involving Padma Bhushan awardee and noted industrialist SP Oswal, 82, chairman of the Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group, with the agency alleging that Akthar was the principal handler involved in arranging mule bank accounts through which proceeds of cybercrime were routed. The arrest followed search operations conducted by the ED on September 28 at three locations in West Bengal. Akthar was produced before the Calcutta chief judicial magistrate, who granted him transit remand for his production before the special PMLA court in Jalandhar. The additional district and sessions judge, Jalandhar, subsequently remanded him to seven days of ED custody till October 6. The ED investigation began following the registration of an FIR by the cyber crime police station, Ludhiana, in connection with the digital arrest of SP Oswal. Nine additional FIRs involving cybercrime by the same group were subsequently included in the investigation. According to the ED, fraudsters posing as officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the judiciary allegedly placed Oswal under a "digital arrest" and extorted Rs.7 crore from him on August 31, 2024. According to the police, the fraudsters, while targeting Oswal, kept him under constant surveillance by making him keep his Skype camera on and instructing him not to make any calls or send messages to anyone while the crime was being carried out. The proceeds were initially credited to bank accounts linked to Rigglo Ventures Private Limited and Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics. The ED said its investigation found that the accounts linked to Rigglo Ventures were controlled and operated by Akthar, who allegedly played a key role in recruiting individuals to arrange mule bank accounts. The agency alleged that pre-loaded APK files were installed on mobile phones into which SIM cards linked to bank accounts were inserted. The ED said it has so far arrested three persons - Rumi Kalita on December 23, 2025, Arpit Rathore on December 31, 2025, and Akthar on September 28, 2026. It has also issued a provisional attachment order involving assets worth Rs.1.76 crore and filed a prosecution complaint against Kalita, Rathore, Anand Chaudhary, Atanu Chaudhary and his firm, Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics. Further investigation is underway....