In a disturbing case of cybercrime, a retired government official was digitally “arrested” for nearly 20 hours and defrauded of Rs 48 lakh by scammers impersonating law enforcement officers. The fraudsters falsely accused the victim of money laundering and threatened his life if he failed to comply or shared the incident with anyone.
Police have arrested three individuals in connection with the case:
Thunga Rajkumar
Kapil Rambhau Patil
Pushkar Chanderkant Pakhale
The trio, residents of Telangana and Maharashtra, were found to be linked to Chinese scam networks and involved in over 20 similar digital arrest frauds.
The case began on March 2 when the victim, Baliram, received a WhatsApp call from someone pretending to be a TRAI official, claiming that a case under the PMLA Act, 2002 had been registered against him at Colaba Police Station, Mumbai. This was followed by a video call from a fake sub-inspector, who alleged that Baliram’s Aadhaar card had been used to open a fraudulent account containing Rs 320 crores.
Despite repeatedly asserting his innocence, Baliram was coerced into sharing personal and financial information. The scammers impersonated high-ranking officials, including a CBI officer and a judge, and presented forged legal documents to make their claims believable.
The cyber police successfully tracked and arrested the suspects, including one who held an MBA degree, exposing their connections to cross-border cybercrime operations. Legal proceedings are underway.
