Accused denied bail in ‘digital arrest’ case

Ahmedabad: Additional sessions judge H N Ramavat on Thursday denied regular bail to an accused in a "digital arrest" case in which Rs 4.92 lakh was extorted out of a woman from the Naranpura area of the city by the accused who posed as CBI officers. Last month, city police arrested 12 people from different parts of the country in the case. They had subjected the woman to 24-hour "digital arrest" and forced her to shell out the money. Among them, Kirankumar Naidu from Tamil Nadu filed a bail application claiming innocence and citing delayed filing of FIR. However, public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt opposed the bail plea and submitted that the incidents of digital arrest were increasing by the day. The accused in this case is from Tamil Nadu and was arrested in Rajasthan. There is a possibility of him evading trial if released on bail. Besides, the possibility of him repeating the offence also cannot be ruled out, it was submitted. After the hearing, the court rejected Naidu's bail plea and stated that there are serious charges of cheating against him. The accused conspired to "digitally arrest" the complainant by wrongly posing as CBI officers and making her deposit different amounts in different bank accounts. The probe is at a critical stage, and if granted bail, the accused might cause hindrance to the investigation and not cooperate with it.