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Thane: A 64-year-old Thane resident has allegedly been duped of Rs 1.56 crore by a gang of cyberfraudsters who placed him under “digital arrest” for nearly a month after posing as police personnel, officials said on Wednesday, March 11.
The fraudsters sent him multiple forged documents, including fake Mumbai police FIRs and counterfeit Interpol ‘Red Corner’ notices to convince he was under serious scrutiny, they said.
The victim, from Katrap at Badlapur in Maharashtra’s Thane district, was kept under ‘digital arrest’ from February 12 till March 7, according to the officials.
The accused, posing as police personnel, contacted the victim from various mobile numbers, claiming that a complaint had been lodged against him for allegedly sending obscene messages and videos to 40 women.
To intensify the fear, they told him that his Aadhaar card and bank details were linked to a money laundering investigation involving a prominent person, an official from Badlapur East police station said.
The fraudsters coerced the victim into downloading the Signal messaging app on his wife’s mobile phone to maintain constant surveillance.
They sent several forged documents on the app, including fake Mumbai police FIRs, a bogus bank letter and ATM card photos in the victim’s name. They even sent counterfeit Interpol ‘Red Corner’ notices to convince him that he was under high-level investigation, the official said.
Under the guise of a “digital arrest,” the fraudsters kept the victim on continuous audio and video surveillance, preventing him from seeking help.
“The accused claimed that the victim’s bank accounts and savings had to be surrendered to the RBI for verification. By creating an atmosphere of extreme fear, they managed to gather all his financial information and instructed him to transfer a total of Rs 1,56,45,000 into various bank accounts through RTGS,” the official said.
The victim later realised he had been duped and approached the police on Monday.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR on Monday against several individuals under sections 308(2) (extortion), 318 (cheating) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.
“While we have identified the fraudsters through the names used by them, no arrests have been made so far. The police are conducting a probe into the crime further to trace the money trail and locate the suspects,” the official said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last month stated in the legislative assembly that ‘digital arrest’ is a fraud and not legally tenable, appealing to people to guard against cyber theft.
He also emphasised that if victims report the cyber frauds to helpline 1930 within the critical “golden hour” (critical for stopping fraudulent transactions), about 90 per cent of the money can be recovered.
This post was last modified on March 11, 2026 12:01 pm