Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh): Ratlam police arrested three suspects in a Rs 55 lakh cyber fraud case involving digital arrest threats, fake police identities and forged Supreme Court documents. Police have also frozen approximately Rs 20 lakh of the defrauded amount.
According to police, the complainant, a businessman operating a motor parts business in Kuwait, received a call on Sep 15 from a person posing as a police officer from Mumbai’s Colaba area.
The caller allegedly accused him of links to an agent associated with Pakistan’s ISI and threatened legal action. Other callers claiming to be senior police officials allegedly reinforced the threats.
On Sep 16, the suspects reportedly arranged a WhatsApp video call featuring individuals in police uniforms and sent documents bearing the Supreme Court of India’s letterhead to make the allegations appear genuine.
They told the complainant to transfer money to designated bank accounts for verification, promising its return after the process. Under pressure, he transferred Rs 55 lakh through RTGS transactions.
Following a complaint at Manakchowk police station, a joint team of the police station and Cyber Cell traced bank transactions and account links.
Investigators identified an Axis Bank account linked to SRI VENKATESHWARA PRI LIMITED, into which Rs 35 lakh had reportedly been deposited.
Police arrested Kodari Venkatesh in Hyderabad, Ashok Anya in Dharwad, Karnataka, and Mir Yusuf in Hyderabad, based on technical evidence and financial records. Investigators also traced a transfer of Rs 5,00,084 at a subsequent stage.
Police are examining the suspects’ bank accounts and tracing the movement of funds to identify other people involved in the alleged fraud.
