Mumbai: A shocking case of online fraud has come to light in Mumbai, where cybercriminals allegedly hacked the mobile phone of police head constable Pradeep Mahadev Wadekar, 48, and took a personal loan of Rs4.12 lakh in his name, transferring the money online. The case has been registered against an unknown individual named Manish Kumar, an account holder at Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, with Navghar police investigating further.
FIR details
According to the FIR, Constable Wadekar, posted at Navghar police station, resides with his family in Parshik Nagar, Kalwa (West), and receives his salary in an HDFC Bank account. On January 16, 2026, while on duty overseeing vote counting for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections at Mhada Colony, R.R. Education Road, Mulund East.
Around 12:30 PM, a fellow police constable approached Wadekar at his duty post and informed him that he was repeatedly calling him for lunch, but the calls were being diverted to Delhi, and a stranger’s voice could be heard on the line. When Wadekar checked his mobile, which he had kept in his pocket, he noticed a large number of suspicious text messages from HDFC Bank.
Fearing a cyber fraud, Wadekar immediately approached HDFC Bank and showed the messages to the bank staff. Upon checking his account details, the bank confirmed that a personal loan had been disbursed in Wadekar’s name, and a total of Rs4,12,045 had been credited. The amount was then transferred in three separate transactions to an account in Ujjivan Small Finance Bank held by Manish Kumar.
Bank alerts
Wadekar clarified that he had not applied for any loan or undertaken any loan procedures. Acting swiftly, the bank froze his HDFC savings account to prevent further unauthorized transactions and recorded the complaint.
Formal complaint
Wadekar also visited the HDFC Loan Department in Thane to file a formal complaint. Frustrated over the loan being approved without verification, he lodged an online complaint on the national cybercrime helpline number 1930. Subsequently, he filed a complaint with the Navghar police station.
Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Act, and the Information Technology (IT) Act and are continuing their investigation.
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