The Delhi Police have arrested two individuals from Gujarat for allegedly defrauding a Delhi-based doctor couple of nearly Rs 15 crore in a “digital arrest” scam.

The victims, Dr Om Taneja and his wife Dr Indira Taneja, had spent almost five decades in the United States serving with the United Nations before returning to India in 2015, and later became involved in charitable work.

The accused, identified as Divyank Patel and Shitoli, were arrested from Vadodara and brought to Delhi. Investigators found that around Rs 4 crore of the total amount was transferred into Patel’s account.

According to the complaint, the fraud began on December 24, 2025, when the couple received calls from cybercriminals posing as law enforcement officials. The scammers falsely accused them of money laundering and national security violations under laws such as the PMLA, threatening them with arrest warrants.

From December 24 to January 10, the couple was kept under constant surveillance via video calls, a common tactic in the “digital arrest” scheme. During this period, Dr Indira Taneja was coerced into transferring funds to eight different bank accounts, with amounts ranging from Rs 2 crore to over Rs 2.10 crore, totaling Rs 14.85 crore.

The 77-year-old said the scammers monitored her movements closely and even initiated video calls on her husband’s phone whenever she tried to step out or make a call, ensuring she could not alert anyone.

The scam came to light on January 10, when the callers instructed her to visit her local police station, claiming the money would be refunded by the RBI. While still on a video call with the fraudsters, she realized the promised refund was fictitious.

Investigators have since frozen Rs 1.9 crore of the money and found that the fraudsters routed the funds through over 700 mule accounts across multiple states.