CHENNAI: A digital arrest complaint lodged by a 60-year-old man led to the arrest of a cyber scammer who operated over 40 mule bank accounts.

The victim had lost Rs 1 crore in the scam by transferring it to various bank accounts, as he believed he was under Digital Arrest.

The Central Crime Branch of the city police followed the digital trail and discovered that some accounts to which the victim transferred the money were based in the city.

This led to the arrest of IAM Azharuddin (40) of Mannadi, who earlier had been trading electronic goods and mobile phones at Burma Bazaar.

He managed over 40 bank accounts of different individuals to collect the scam amount and received 3 per cent commission for transactions over Rs 5 lakh.

Through his contacts, he arranged bank account holders and enabled the withdrawal of funds through cheques. Further investigation is under way to trace the stolen money.