Mumbai: Elderly Retired IIT Medical Officer Duped of ₹4.62 Crore in Cyber Fraud; Two Arrested

The Western Region Cyber Cell police have arrested two persons for allegedly cheating a 74-year-old woman, a retired medical officer from IIT Powai, of ₹4.62 crore by threatening her with arrest in cases of money laundering and mental and physical harassment. The arrested accused have been identified as Narendra S. Sinha and Gunjan Devkumar Dineshchandra. A court has remanded both to police custody.

Investigations revealed that the accused had provided their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters, and the cheated amount was deposited into their accounts. Police suspect the involvement of more accused in the racket and have launched a special drive to nab them.

According to police, the complainant lives in Powai with her husband, while her daughter is pursuing education in Bengaluru. The woman retired as a medical officer from IIT Powai. On October 11, 2026, she received a video call from a person claiming to be from the telecom department, who falsely alleged that a case of mental and physical harassment had been registered against her and that she could be arrested at any time.

Soon after, another person contacted her, introducing himself as IPS officer Sushilkumar Gautam from Delhi Police. He claimed that her Aadhaar card had been misused to open a bank account in a private bank, through which transactions worth ₹6 crore had taken place, amounting to money laundering. He further told her that a case had been registered by the CBI in this regard.

Despite the woman clarifying that she had no such bank account, the caller claimed that one Sandeep Kumar had been arrested in a money laundering case and that her name had surfaced during interrogation. He threatened that she would be questioned and arrested if she did not cooperate, and warned her not to discuss the matter with anyone, creating fear and panic.

Under pressure, the woman did not inform anyone and agreed to cooperate. The fraudster then obtained details of her bank accounts and investments, and persuaded her to prematurely withdraw her fixed deposits and recurring deposits. Fearing arrest, the woman transferred ₹4.62 crore between October 2025 and January 2026 into bank accounts provided by the accused. She was assured that the money would be audited and returned to her account after verification.

However, the fraudster stopped contacting her and the money was never returned. Suspecting foul play, the woman searched for information about “Sushilkumar Gautam” on social media and discovered that no such officer was posted with the Delhi Cyber Cell, Crime Branch or the CBI. Realising she had been cheated, she approached the Powai police and lodged a complaint.

Following the complaint, a case of cheating by impersonation and offences under the Information Technology Act was registered and later transferred to the Western Region Cyber Cell for further investigation.

During the probe, police traced the bank accounts into which the cheated amount had been transferred and identified Narendra Sinha and Gunjan Dineshchandra as suspects. Investigation revealed that they had opened multiple bank accounts and provided them to cyber fraudsters. The fraud amount was deposited into these accounts, withdrawn by the accused and handed over to the cyber criminals, for which they received a commission.

Based on these findings, the cyber cell police arrested both the accused. Further investigation is underway to identify and arrest other members involved in the cyber fraud network.