Ludhiana, July 19 -- A senior professor at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University fell prey to a cyber scam involving fabricated "digital arrest" after fraudsters posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials extorted Rs.20 lakh from him.

Victim Dalpat Singh Malik, professor in the department of livestock production management, was allegedly coerced into transferring the money to cybercriminals who claimed that his name had emerged in a human trafficking case. The fraudsters told him that two men arrested by the CBI had identified him as an accomplice, and an arrest warrant had been issued against him.

The scam began on July 2 when Malik received a call from a fraudster claiming to be a CBI officer based in...