Inside a Rs 14-crore Delhi ‘digital arrest’: A hotel room, NGOs, and the call that broke an elderly couple

“All their phones were installed with APK files that gave remote access of the devices to fraudsters based in Cambodia and Nepal,” a police officer told The Indian Express. “Using this access, the fraudsters controlled mule bank accounts and began making calls to victims.”

Over the past two weeks, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police has arrested at least seven people from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. Investigators allege the scam was orchestrated by a syndicate allegedly operating out of Cambodia and Nepal.

Those arrested are Mahavir Sharma alias Neel, 27; Bhupendra alias Atul Mishra, 37; Divyang Patel, 30; Arun Kumar Tiwari, 45; Pradyuman Tiwari, 44; Shitole Krutik, 31; and Aadesh Singh, 36. Neel and Patel are from Gujarat; Arun Kumar Tiwari, Pradyuman Tiwari, Atul Mishra, and Aadesh Singh are from Uttar Pradesh; and Sharma is from Odisha.

Police said the accused allegedly acted as facilitators, funnelling money into mule accounts on instructions from handlers abroad, who are yet to be identified. Seven mobile phones and cheque books were recovered. The syndicate allegedly impersonated officials from the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation, customs, and other agencies to target victims.

The operation allegedly began in early 2025, when the syndicate recruited Neel, a credit card salesman for State Bank of India in Ahmedabad, along with Atul Mishra, an MBA graduate from Lucknow, and Aadesh Singh, a tutor from the same city. Their role was to allegedly enlist bank accounts—preferably NGOs, which routinely handle large transfers.

“Neel was in touch with Cambodia-based fraudsters on Telegram,” an officer familiar with the probe said. “He was asked to arrange mule accounts in return for a commission.”

Neel allegedly approached NGOs, claiming their accounts were needed to receive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from a Dubai-based “client”. Investigators said the NGOs were allegedly unaware the company was a front for the syndicate.

Through this, Neel allegedly contacted Shitole Krutik in November 2025. An independent trader, Krutik holds an IT diploma from a New Zealand university and had worked there for six months before returning to Ahmedabad to trade stocks. “As the Covid lockdown dragged on, he suffered heavy losses and eventually lost his savings,” an officer said.

Through Krutik, Neel allegedly reached Divyang Patel, a 30-year-old chartered accountant from Vadodara who founded the non-profit Floresta Foundation. Set up two years ago, the NGO claimed to focus on healthcare and social assistance but allegedly struggled to secure funds, investigators said.

“Patel was also running a financial services firm and held an intermediate CA qualification. Neither venture was yielding returns,” an investigator said.

Neel allegedly told Patel that while his “clients” wanted to make CSR donations, the transfers were only for tax benefits and would later be withdrawn. Patel was allegedly promised an 8 percent commission to remain in his account after the funds were transferred out, police said.

A parallel setup was allegedly created in Uttar Pradesh after Atul Mishra and Aadesh Singh allegedly contacted the fraudsters via WhatsApp and Telegram around October last year. Mishra allegedly travelled to Varanasi and contacted Arun Kumar Tiwari of Shivash Charitable Foundation. Arun’s friend Pradyuman Tiwari, a 44-year-old priest on the Ganga ghats, was also allegedly roped in.

“Pradyuman was facing financial difficulties. Arun told him all he needed to do was allow his account to hold a few crores for a few days in return for a cut. He agreed,” an investigator said.

Meanwhile, victims were allegedly identified after handlers abroad called numbers in affluent neighbourhoods, gauged financial standing through casual conversations, and passed them to the suspects.

One number belonged to Indira Taneja, a 77-year-old retired dentist.

The plan allegedly culminated on December 25, when Arun Kumar and Pradyuman allegedly met Atul Mishra and Aadesh in Lucknow. Remote-access apps were allegedly installed, phones prepared, and banking apps opened to receive OTPs—allegedly giving fraudsters control of the accounts. In Vadodara, Neel allegedly instructed Patel to install a similar APK file, allegedly handing control of his account to the syndicate, police said.

The fraudsters then allegedly called the Taneja family in South Delhi’s Greater Kailash.

The call

Indira Taneja had allegedly been contacted a day earlier. With their children settled in the US, she and her 81-year-old husband—a former UN official—lived alone in Delhi.

In the first call, the caller allegedly posed as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, claiming a bank account in her name was linked to a Rs 500-crore money-laundering case in Mumbai and was being disconnected.

“I said it wasn’t even mine. The TRAI caller said he was connecting me to Mumbai’s Colaba Police Station,” Indira said.

The second caller allegedly identified himself as Vikrant Singh Rajput, claiming to be a police officer from Colaba police station. Wearing a police uniform with an insignia visible behind him, he allegedly claimed someone had duped the Defence Ministry of Rs 500 crore using an account in Taneja’s name and “summoned” her to Mumbai.

The Lucknow team allegedly called on December 25, asking the Tanejas to join a fake online Supreme Court hearing. This was allegedly followed by staged interactions—including a so-called RBI verification process—that allegedly coerced the couple into transferring crores in multiple instalments. The money was allegedly routed through mule accounts and sent out of India via hawala channels, police said.

Of the Rs 14.85 crore transferred, at least Rs 4 crore allegedly went to Divyang Patel’s NGO account, while Rs 2.10 crore was allegedly credited to Arun Kumar Tiwari’s account.

“Shitole Krutik acted as a facilitator. His role was to withdraw and redistribute the money,” the officer said.

“None of them received any commission. The money was credited and immediately transferred onward. They were told their ‘cuts’ would come later,” an IFSO officer said.

The case surfaced after the victims approached police on January 10. An FIR was registered, triggering the probe. Investigators allegedly traced the money trail, leading to coordinated raids and arrests across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Odisha.

A team led by ACP Prem Khanduri and Sub-Inspector Raj Kiran probed the case. So far, police have allegedly frozen Rs 1.9 crore. “Two of the seven primary accounts that received RTGS payments were traced to Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh,” a senior officer said.

None of the accounts have yet been linked to other cybercrime cases, police said, adding that no more than Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore of the defrauded amount allegedly remains in the formal banking system.

Tracking has been challenging, police admitted. “Mule account holders are usually unaware of the larger operation. The system runs on commissions. Callers are guided by foreign Telegram accounts and often have no idea who is behind them,” a senior police officer said.