Mumbai: Senior Social Worker Duped of ₹1.60 Crore Through ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam; Accused Arrested in Nashik

In a major breakthrough, the West Regional Cyber Police has arrested the main accused involved in cheating a senior social worker of ₹1.60 crore by threatening her with a so-called “digital arrest.” The accused, identified as Ankush Ramrao More, a resident of Nashik, was taken into custody from Nashik.

More’s role included providing bank accounts to cyber fraudsters, receiving fraudulent money transfers, and forwarding the funds to other members of the gang. After his arrest, he was produced before a court in Bandra, which remanded him to police custody.

The elderly victim, a 76-year-old social worker residing in Khar, received a phone call on 12 December 2024 from a person identifying himself as Prasad Singh, a Junior Telecom Officer. He falsely claimed that her mobile number had been used in a money-laundering case and that her SIM card would be blocked within an hour. He further said that Delhi Police had registered a case against her and she would be interrogated soon.

Shortly after, another caller identifying himself as Sunil kumar Gautam, claiming to be an IPS officer from Delhi, tried to intimidate her by speaking aggressively and insisting she was involved in money laundering.

A third caller, Sandeep Rao, contacted her via video call while dressed in a police uniform. He instructed her to go into her bedroom and lock all doors and windows. He claimed that a bank account had been opened using her documents and transactions worth ₹68 lakh were linked to money laundering.

Despite her denying any connection to the alleged account, the caller told her that because she was a senior citizen, she would not be immediately arrested but would remain under “digital arrest” at home. He warned her not to contact anyone or step outside, threatening immediate arrest if she violated these instructions.

Later, another caller identifying himself as Pradeep Singh from the CBI asked her to transfer all funds from her bank accounts into a “CBI secret account” for verification. Fearing arrest, she transferred an initial ₹70 lakh followed by another ₹90 lakh, totalling ₹1.60 crore.

After the transfer, the calls stopped and no investigation took place.

On 16 December, the victim’s nephew visited her, and she narrated the entire incident to him. Realising she had been defrauded, he advised her to file a police complaint. She approached the Cyber Cell, following which a case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act.

During the investigation, police traced More, who had been absconding for nearly 11 months. Inquiry revealed that about ₹90 lakh was deposited in a bank account opened by him, which he later transferred to the cyber fraud syndicate. He also received commissions for facilitating these transactions and opening multiple bank accounts for the scammers.

Following his arrest, he was produced in Bandra local court, which remanded him to police custody for further investigation.