ED arrests man it calls the 'principal handler' in S.P. Oswal ₹7 crore digital-arrest case

AI-generated editorial illustration by CyberShitty. Not a photograph or a document from the organisations named.

The Enforcement Directorate says Sohel Akthar alias Raju controlled the bank accounts of one of the 2 firms that first received the ₹7 crore, and recruited people to arrange mule accounts. He is ED's third arrest in the case.

01 / What happened

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) says its Jalandhar Zonal Office arrested Sohel Akthar alias Raju in Kolkata on 28 September 2026 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after searching 3 locations in West Bengal. The case concerns Ludhiana industrialist S.P. Oswal, chairman of the Vardhman Group. Fraudsters posing as CBI officers and members of the judiciary held him in a digital arrest and extorted ₹7 crore.

According to ED's press release of 1 October, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Calcutta, allowed a transit remand, and the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Jalandhar, sent him to ED custody until 6 October. ED calls him the "principal handler" in recruiting people to arrange mule bank accounts. Accused, not convicted, he is the third person ED has arrested, after Rumi Kalita of Guwahati and Arpit Rathore of Kanpur in December 2025. Ludhiana police had earlier arrested 2 people from Assam, according to Outlook Business and Moneylife. The probe covers a Ludhiana cyber police FIR and 9 more digital-arrest FIRs against the same group.

02 / How the money moved

ED's account, all allegations against the accused:

• Company accounts first. The ₹7 crore first landed in the accounts of 2 firms, Rigglo Ventures Private Limited and Frozenman Warehousing & Logistics. Kalita and Rathore controlled Frozenman's accounts, and ED says the accused used an APK called "AMMFORWARD" to route the money fast. Akthar controlled and operated Rigglo's accounts.
• Phones that forward OTPs. Phones came pre-loaded with APK files (Android apps from outside the Play Store). SIM cards linked to the bank accounts of Rigglo and other entities went into them; once the apps were switched on, associates based in Nepal could read the OTPs and SMS on their own devices.
• Paid in crypto. Rathore supplied mule accounts to people "belonging to Cambodia, Vietnam etc.", Akthar to foreign-based individuals. Both were paid commission in cryptocurrency on Binance.
• Mules and cash. Money was spread across many mule accounts, where crores from various crimes were layered through shell entities and sent abroad disguised as trade. The rest moved in amounts of ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh, was withdrawn in cash at once and turned into crypto for foreign nationals, minus a commission. The mule accounts were opened by luring economically vulnerable people with false promises of loans or jobs.

03 / Where the ₹7 crore went

A flow chart in the release shows Oswal paying ₹4 crore to Frozenman and ₹3 crore to Rigglo. The chart shows ₹3.40 crore returning to him from Frozenman and ₹1.53 crore from Rigglo, or ₹4.93 crore by our sum; ED gives no total. The rest went to another firm (₹0.60 crore) and to 48 other persons (₹1.47 crore). Earlier media reports put the police recovery at ₹5.25 crore (Moneylife) and "nearly Rs 5 crore" (Outlook Business).

ED provisionally attached ₹1.76 crore on 14 February 2026. On 19 February it filed a Prosecution Complaint, the PMLA equivalent of a charge sheet, against Kalita, Rathore, Anand Chaudhary, Atanu Chaudhary and Frozenman. That complaint does not name Akthar. ED says the investigation continues.

04 / Confirmed vs. reported

Confirmed (ED's release): the arrest, remand, attachment and complaint. Alleged by ED, not tested in court: the account trail and flow-chart figures; no one has been convicted. Reported: the police recovery figures and the earlier police arrests. Where reports differ: an IANS report (via SocialNews.XYZ) quotes ED as saying Kalita and Rathore controlled both firms' accounts, then ties Rigglo's accounts to Akthar; ED's release links Kalita and Rathore only to Frozenman. ED does not date the fraud; Outlook Business and Moneylife put it in late August 2024 (The Tribune says August 2023). ED mostly spells the name "Akthar"; some reports use "Akhtar".

05 / What this means for you

• No agency arrests anyone over a video call. No police, CBI or ED officer, and no judge, will hold you on a call or ask you to move money to clear your name. Hang up. Digital arrest scam: what to do.
• Don't rent out your account or SIM. Refuse any loan, job or commission offered for opening an account in your name or putting your SIM in someone else's phone. Why renting out your bank account can end in arrest.
• Don't install APK files from strangers; they can forward your bank OTPs.
• If money has gone, call 1930 at once and report it at cybercrime.gov.in. Money lost? What to do now.