Arrested digitally, shown fake courtroom: Panchkula woman duped of Rs 2.98 crore by man impersonating CBI officer

“To make their story believable, the fraudsters sent me photos showing an arrested person. They threatened me with house arrest, claiming a police vehicle was parked outside my house and that I could not step out of my house without their permission. They also extracted details of all my bank accounts and warned me not to inform anyone, threatening to harm my children,” the complainant alleged.

“On December 5, the accused produced me before a fake courtroom virtually, where bogus police personnel and a fake judge were present. On the pretext of investigation, they intimidated me into transferring a total of Rs 2.98 crore to various bank accounts. When the fraudsters demanded more money, I grew suspicious and immediately lodged a complaint on the cyber helpline number 1930,” she stated.

DCP (Crime and Traffic) Manpreet Singh Sudan said that based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Panchkula on December 14 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “Preliminary investigation found the fraud was committed through online money laundering scams, fake summons and warrants, and by impersonating police and judicial authorities, using a fabricated courtroom setup,” Sudan said.

Under the supervision of Cyber SHO Yudhvir Singh, investigating officer Bhup Singh arrested the accused, Nitin Singhal, a resident of East Delhi, during a raid on January 15, and recovered around Rs 17 lakh of defrauded money in his bank account.

The accused was produced before the court and remanded to six days of police custody.

The DCP said, “The names of other accused have also surfaced, and raids are being conducted to arrest them.” He appealed to the public to remain vigilant against unidentified calls, people posing as government officials, and threats of “digital arrest”.