HC denies anticipatory bail to man who posed as CBI officer, duped Vardhman Group chairman of Rs 7 crore

According to the police, Chaudhary and the other accused had posed as officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and set up a fake ‘virtual courtroom’ while one of them posed as former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud.

Rejecting the anticipatory bail application of the accused, Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu stated, “The modus operandi adopted by the petitioner [Atanu Chaudhary] as well as other co-accused regarding the alleged commission of crime is to be investigated thoroughly and for that purpose, custodial interrogation of the petitioner would be utmost necessary.”

Oswal had approached the police in this regard in September 2024. In his complaint, he alleged that the accused made a Skype Call portraying a “courtroom hearing” and also forged a Supreme Court order before directing Oswal to transfer the funds to a bank account. The account was later found to be linked to the accused.

Seeking anticipatory bail, Chaudhary pleaded that he was “falsely implicated” in the case and the entries in his account running into Rs 25 crore were done without his consent/ authorisation. However, Punjab Police emphasised that Chaudhary did not cooperate with the investigation and despite the lower court granting him bail and directing him to join the investigations, Chaudhary did not do so.

The police also said that the accused had orchestrated a sophisticated cyber crime involving the creation and dissemination of forged and fabricated documents purportedly issued by the Supreme Court, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI.

“These documents, which included a forged Supreme Court order and an arrest order from the ED, were used to mislead and coerce the complainant into transferring a substantial sum of Rs 7 crores to bank accounts controlled by the petitioner and his associates. The deliberate forgery of documents bearing the seal of the apex court and impersonation of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India (CJI) during a fake virtual hearing highlight the extreme gravity of the petitioner’s actions, warranting stringent action,” stated the report filed by way of an affidavit by Jasvir Singh Gill, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Economic Offences and Cyber Crime, Ludhiana.

Taking note of the police’s reply, Justice Sindhu noted, “…extract clearly reveals that petitioner along with other co-accused has defrauded the complainant to the tune of Rs 7 crore and also forged the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court. Apart that, fake arrest order purported to have been issued by ED was also shown to the de-facto complainant and coerced him for transferring the alleged amount.”

“There is no option, except to dismiss the petition,” the judge stated.

Justice Sindhu also cited incidents of cyber fraud in the country while rejecting the anticipatory bail application of the accused. “Instances of cyber fraud are increasing day by day and according to the data maintained by Reserve Bank of India, an amount of Rs 3,207 crore was lost due to 5,82,000 cases of cyber fraud between financial year 2020 to financial year 2024. Also noteworthy that during financial year 2023 to financial year 2024, an amount of Rs 2,054 crore has been lost on account of cyber frauds in our country,” the order said.