‘One of my family members was digitally arrested for two days,’ says actor Nagarjuna Akkineni

Actor Nagarjuna Akkineni on Monday said one of his family members was subjected to a ‘digital arrest’ by fraudsters for two days, six months ago.

Speaking at a press conference with city Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and other film personalities, Nagarjuna said the perpetrators vanished quickly once the police intervened.

“I remember in my own house, about six months ago, the same thing happened. One of my family members was digitally arrested for two days. These organisations (fraudulent) will track us and try to find out our weaknesses,” the actor told reporters.

When contacted, a senior police official told PTI that no complaint had been filed by Nagarjuna regarding the incident.

The official, however, said the fraudsters must have disappeared once the police got involved.

Sajjanar was addressing the press conference on the arrest of Emmadi Ravi, who runs several websites that screen pirated movies.

Cautioning people to be wary of fraudulent websites, Nagarjuna said the Telangana Police “did an excellent job by arresting the accused.” He added that not only the Telugu film industry but also movies in other languages would benefit from the crackdown on pirates.

Digital arrest is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials or government personnel, intimidate victims through audio or video calls, and hold them hostage to extort money.