Mumbai, August 10, 2026: The West Cyber Police Station has busted a ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud racket and arrested seven persons allegedly involved in cheating a victim of Rs 1.67 crore by posing as police officers and threatening the victim with a fake money-laundering case.
The case was registered at the West Cyber Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
According to the police, the victim was contacted between April 2 and April 18 through an unknown mobile number and WhatsApp number. The accused allegedly posed as police officials and told the victim that their Aadhaar card had been misused in a money-laundering case.
Fake Documents Used To Threaten Victim
To convince the victim, the accused allegedly sent fake electronic documents on WhatsApp bearing the police logo and the name and seal of the Supreme Court.
They then threatened the victim with ‘digital arrest’ and claimed that all the victim's bank accounts had to be verified. Under the guise of verification, the accused allegedly forced the victim to transfer Rs 1,67,40,000 from their bank account into two different bank accounts, thereby committing financial fraud.
Following a detailed technical investigation, police established the involvement of seven accused and arrested them.
Role Of The Accused
Sanjay Heralal Shah, 58
Police said Shah allegedly supplied SIM cards and OTPs to cybercriminals for carrying out cyber frauds.
A 32-year-old female accused
Her identity has not been revealed by the police. She allegedly helped in diverting and disposing of Rs 50.60 lakh of the fraud proceeds.
Rishi Ramchandra Meena, 38
He allegedly provided technical assistance in diverting the fraud proceeds deposited into the bank account of accused No. 2.
Naushad Ali, son of Dilshad Ali, 31
He allegedly manufactured and sold SIM cards used to contact the victim to cybercriminals.
Mohammed Khalid Hafizuddin Saifi, 27
Police said he allegedly used technical equipment to route the calls made to the victim as part of the ‘digital arrest’ fraud.
Nageshwar Mahto, 43, and Jabir Hussain, 46
The duo allegedly received Rs 1.17 crore of the fraud proceeds in their bank accounts and, with the assistance of their associates, helped dispose of the money.
Seizures During Investigation
Police recovered the following items from the arrested accused:
● 27 mobile phones
● 2 laptops
● 5 digital signature devices
● 613 SIM cards of various telecom companies
● 10 cheque books
● 2 passbooks
● 2 ATM cards
● Rs 34 lakh frozen in various bank accounts
Police Advisory To Citizens
The Cyber Police have warned citizens that the police, CBI, ED, RBI or any other government agency does not conduct ‘digital arrests’. There is no provision for ‘digital arrest’ under the law.
Citizens have been advised not to accept video calls from unknown persons. If anyone is threatened with a ‘digital arrest’ and asked to transfer money to a bank account or hand over cash to anyone, they should not make any payment and should immediately contact the nearest police station or call the Cyber Crime Helpline 1930.
Police have also clarified that there is no need to transfer money to any other bank account for the purpose of ‘verification’ of one's funds.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Anil Kumbhare, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Krishnakant Upadhyay, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Bajrang Bansode and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Suvarna Shinde.
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The operation was successfully executed by the Cyber Police Station, Western Region, under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Sandeep Patil, along with APIs Poonam Jadhav, Nitin Gacche, Amol Mali, Savita Kadam, Anjali Vani, Shankar Patil and Vijaykumar Ghorpade, and PSIs Deepak Tayde and Avinash Nalawade, along with their team.
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