In a shocking case of cyber fraud, criminals targeted a Mumbai police constable who was on election duty, fraudulently availing a personal loan in his name without his knowledge or consent. The incident has raised serious questions over banking verification systems.
The victim, Police Constable Pradeep Mahadev Wadekar, posted at Navghar Police Station, was cheated of Rs 4,12,045 after cyber fraudsters secured a personal loan in his name and siphoned off the amount online. Navghar Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation into the matter.
According to police, the bank approved the personal loan without any application, consent or verification from the police personnel. The fraud came to light only after Wadekar started receiving suspicious SMS alerts on his mobile phone.
As per details shared by Navghar Police, Wadekar has been serving in the Mumbai Police since 2001. On January 16, 2026, he was deployed on vote-counting duty for the BMC elections. Due to continuous work and heavy crowd management from 7 am onwards, he could not check his mobile phone.
During this period, cyber criminals completed the entire loan process in his name. In the afternoon, after being alerted by a colleague, Wadekar checked his phone and noticed multiple suspicious messages linked to HDFC Bank. He immediately rushed to the bank, where officials informed him that a personal loan of Rs 4,12,045 had been credited to his account and soon transferred in three separate transactions to a bank account belonging to one Manish Kumar.
Wadekar clarified to bank officials that he had neither applied for nor authorised any personal loan. Following this, the bank debit-froze his account and registered a complaint. The victim also lodged a formal complaint with the loan department of HDFC Bank.
Considering the seriousness of the offence, Wadekar approached the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and registered an online complaint by calling the cybercrime helpline number 1930. The complaint names Manish Kumar as an unknown accused, alleging financial fraud and misuse of identity.
The incident has once again brought the spotlight on lapses in banks’ loan approval and verification processes. Approval of a loan without the customer’s physical presence or explicit confirmation is being viewed as a major breach of banking security norms.
Navghar Police have registered an offence and intensified efforts to trace the cyber fraudsters involved in the case.