Mumbai Cyber Police have arrested six people after a 68-year-old retired businessman from Dahisar allegedly lost ₹1.12 crore in a digital-arrest scam that kept him under constant fear for nearly two weeks.
The accused allegedly posed as officials from the Department of Telecommunications and police, told the victim that his identity documents had been misused in a money-laundering case and threatened him with arrest.
Police say the arrested group includes an IIT Delhi alumnus working as a web developer and a private-bank operations manager, adding a fresh layer to an investigation now focused on mule accounts, company accounts and the movement of the stolen money.
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Fake telecom call allegedly turned into two-week ‘digital arrest’
The fraud began sometime between July and August when the Dahisar resident received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from the Department of Telecommunications.
The caller allegedly told him that his identity documents had been misused and that a money-laundering case had been registered against him in Delhi.
The victim was then connected to another person identifying himself as police officer “Vijay Khanna”.
The supposed officer continued communicating through WhatsApp video calls and allegedly sent forged legal documents carrying police insignia and references to the Supreme Court.
The documents were used to make the threat appear genuine.
Police say the victim was warned that if he told his family about the investigation, his relatives could also be arrested.
For nearly two weeks, he was allegedly kept under continuous psychological pressure and instructed to share his location every two hours.
There is no legal concept of “digital arrest” in India.
The term is used by fraudsters to make victims believe that they are under official surveillance and cannot disconnect a call, leave their home or speak with family members.
Fraudsters allegedly targeted bank accounts and fixed deposits
Once the victim was sufficiently frightened, the accused allegedly began asking for details of his bank accounts and fixed deposits.
Police say he was forced to transfer approximately ₹1.12 crore into different accounts supplied by the fraudsters.
The scam finally came to light when the victim’s daughter discovered what had happened.
The family then approached the cybercrime helpline and filed a complaint.
A case was registered at the North Cyber Police Station, after which investigators began tracing the beneficiary accounts.
The investigation was led by Senior Inspector Pramod Kamble and Inspector Sunil Lokhande under the supervision of DCP Bajrang Bansode.
Major portion of money allegedly reached gold trading company
The financial trail led police to a company involved in gold trading.
Investigators allege that a substantial part of the ₹1.12 crore entered the company’s bank account.
Police arrested company director Rakesh Jain and are examining how the business account came to receive funds allegedly linked to cyber fraud.
Another accused, Tariq Momin, allegedly handled SIM cards connected with the account and is suspected of arranging and operating mule bank accounts.
A mule account is an account used to receive or move criminal proceeds, sometimes with the account holder’s knowledge and sometimes through misuse of their identity.
The existence of money in a company account does not by itself establish that every director or employee knowingly participated in the fraud.
Investigators will need to establish who controlled the account, who authorised the transactions and who benefited from the movement of funds.
Delhi-to-Bijnor movement gives police another trail
Police say accused Chintan Desai travelled from Mumbai to Delhi and later to Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh while carrying a phone containing a SIM card registered in Jain’s name.
Investigators suspect that part of the fraud proceeds may have been withdrawn or transferred onwards from Bijnor.
That movement is important because cybercrime networks often split responsibilities.
One person may speak to the victim.
Another may arrange SIM cards.
A third may provide bank accounts.
Others may withdraw cash or transfer funds further so that the original payment becomes harder to trace.
The Dahisar investigation is now trying to reconstruct those separate roles.
IIT Delhi alumnus among six arrested
One of the accused, identified by police as Gohel, is an IIT Delhi graduate and works as a web developer.
Police also say he had previously been booked in a cheating case registered at Bandra Police Station in 2021.
A previous case does not prove involvement in the present allegations.
The prosecution will still need evidence connecting him specifically to the Dahisar fraud.
Police have also arrested Ajay Sharma, Tyagi and the other accused while continuing to trace the remaining financial trail.
The exact role of the private-bank operations manager mentioned in the police investigation has not yet been publicly detailed.
That aspect will require particular scrutiny because employment at a bank does not itself establish that the institution was involved.
Investigators will need to determine whether any banking access, internal knowledge or account-opening process was actually misused.
Why mule accounts are central to digital-arrest scams
The person speaking to a victim in a digital-arrest scam is often only the visible end of a much larger network.
Once money is transferred, it may pass quickly through company accounts, individual accounts or multiple banks before being withdrawn or moved again.
That makes the money trail crucial.
Mumbai Police data shows the city has faced a sharp rise in cyber fraud, with 3,689 online fraud cases recorded in the first seven months of 2026. Digital-arrest cases form part of that broader increase.
Mumbai Police has also been running awareness campaigns specifically targeting senior citizens because they are frequently targeted through impersonation of police, CBI, ED and telecom officials.
What this means for you
If anyone claiming to be from police, DoT, CBI, ED or another authority says you are under “digital arrest”, disconnect immediately. No genuine agency will demand that you remain on a video call, disclose your fixed deposits or transfer money to prove your innocence.
The420 Insight
The six arrests show why digital-arrest fraud cannot be understood only as a fake-call scam. The real machinery sits behind the caller: SIM suppliers, mule accounts, company accounts, cash handlers and people who move the proceeds. Following that network is what turns a victim complaint into an organised cybercrime investigation.
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