ED Arrests Kolkata Man in Ludhiana Industrialist SP Oswal’s Rs 7-Crore Digital Arrest Case

Jalandhar/Ludhiana: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar, has arrested Sohel Akthar alias Raju from Kolkata following search raids in connection with the alleged digital arrest and Rs 7-crore cyber fraud involving Ludhiana-based industrialist SP Oswal.

In a release issued on Thursday, the ED said Akthar was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 28. After a Kolkata court granted his transit remand, he was brought to Jalandhar.

The Special PMLA Court in Jalandhar has remanded him to custody till October 6. The agency is expected to question him during custodial interrogation to establish his alleged role in the case and trace the money trail.

SP Oswal Lost Rs 7 Crore in ‘Digital Arrest’ Fraud

SP Oswal, chairman of the Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group, was allegedly put under “digital arrest” in August 2023 by fraudsters impersonating CBI officers. The fraudsters allegedly extorted Rs 7 crore from him.

The ED began its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ludhiana. Nine additional FIRs involving alleged digital-arrest cybercrime by the same group were also included in the investigation.

ED Traces Funds to Company Bank Accounts

According to the agency, the proceeds of crime were initially credited to bank accounts belonging to M/s Rigglo Ventures Pvt Ltd and M/s Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics.

The bank accounts of Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics were controlled by Rumi Kalita of Guwahati and Arpit Rathore of Kanpur, the agency said.

According to the ED, an APK application called “AMMFORWARD” was allegedly used for the speedy routing of the proceeds of crime. Arpit Rathore allegedly provided various mule accounts to persons based in 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.

ED Alleges Akthar Controlled Rigglo Ventures Accounts

The ED investigation found that bank accounts belonging to Rigglo Ventures were allegedly controlled and operated by Akthar. The agency described him as the principal handler allegedly involved in recruiting people and arranging mule bank accounts belonging to individuals and entities.

Investigators found that mobile phones had pre-loaded APK files that were used with SIM cards linked to bank accounts of Rigglo Ventures and other entities.

According to the agency, these APK files were activated on the mobile phones, enabling Nepal-based associates to access OTPs and other SMS messages on their respective mobile devices. The ED said this arrangement facilitated the rapid routing of proceeds of crime through the bank accounts.

Money Allegedly Routed Through Mule Accounts

The investigation 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.

According to the ED, the mule accounts were opened by allegedly 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 details of mule bank accounts with foreign-based associates.

The ED had earlier provisionally attached assets worth Rs 1.76 crore in the case. It also filed a prosecution complaint against Rumi Kalita, Arpit Rathore, Anand Chaudhary, Atanu Chaudhary and Frozenman Warehousing and Logistics on February 19.