Mumbai, September 15, 2026: A 66-year-old retired Income Tax Department employee from Worli was allegedly duped of Rs 8.51 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers and threatened to arrest him in connection with a fabricated criminal case.
The Dadar police have registered a case against two persons identified as Sandeep Roy and Suraj Jaiswar and have launched an investigation into the fraud.
Fake NIA Officer Makes Allegations
According to the FIR, the complainant, Hemant Vasant Warlikar, a resident of Worli Koliwada, received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown mobile number at around 10.45 am on September 5.
When he answered the call, the person on the other end claimed to be an NIA officer named Sandeep Roy. The accused was allegedly dressed in an NIA uniform to make the claim appear genuine.
The alleged officer told Warlikar that a complaint had been registered against him and that someone had used his Aadhaar card details to obtain a PAN card and deposit money into another bank account. The accused further claimed that the complaint was serious and could result in imprisonment for six months to one year.
Soon after, Warlikar received another call from an unknown number. The caller identified himself as Suraj Jaiswar and allegedly told him that he would have to go to jail unless he deposited money to rectify the matter.
Victim Transfers Rs 8.51 Lakh
The two accused allegedly continued calling Warlikar and threatened to arrest and send him to prison if he failed to pay the demanded amount. Fearing arrest, Warlikar transferred Rs 4.51 lakh on September 8 through RTGS from his Income Tax Department Co-operative Bank account at the Churchgate branch in Mumbai to an Indian Post Payments Bank account allegedly belonging to Sanjay Basfore of New Delhi.
On September 10, he allegedly transferred another Rs 4 lakh through RTGS from the same account to a Jammu and Kashmir Gramin Bank account held by Aditya Singh, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Police Trace Money Trail
Warlikar subsequently realised that he had been duped and approached the cybercrime helpline 1930 as well as the Dadar police.
The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Further investigation is underway to trace the accused and the money trail.
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