Thane, March 11 A 64-year-old resident of Thane has allegedly been cheated of Rs 1.56 crore by a group of cyber fraudsters who placed him under "digital arrest" for almost a month after posing as police personnel, officials said on Wednesday.
The fraudsters sent him multiple forged documents, including fake Mumbai police FIRs and counterfeit Interpol 'Red Corner' notices, to convince him that he was under serious scrutiny, they said.
The victim, from Katrap in Badlapur in Maharashtra's Thane district, was kept under 'digital arrest' from February 12 to 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 realized 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 they used, no arrests have been made so far. The police are conducting an investigation 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.