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Journalism of Courage
A retired judge from Pune became the victim of a digital arrest scam in which he lost over Rs 1 crore to a cyber-criminal who posed as an IPS officer and threatened to arrest him under the National Security Act.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Cyber Crime Police station of Pune City by the retired judge who is in his early 80s.
In the third week of March this year, the complainant received a call from a woman who identified herself as “IPS officer Navjot Simi”, which is the name of the serving IPS officer of the Bihar cadre. The fraud officer told the complainant that his involvement in a Rs 2 crore money laundering case had come to light and that its inquiry had been handed over to her. The complainant categorically denied his involvement in any such crime or transactions.
On a video call, the fraudster showed him what she claimed was a “digital arrest warrant” and that it had the Aadhar details of the complainant. The fraudster then started questioning the complainant about his finances and bank deposits. After the complainant shared the details, the woman told him to transfer those funds to “government accounts” for a “verification process”. The complainant was threatened not to disclose the charges against him to anyone. He was told that failing to comply with “the investigation” and disclosing his details to anyone else would lead to his prosecution under the National Security Act.
Between the third week of March and the first week of May, the caller repeatedly pressured the complainant into making 10 transactions totalling Rs 1.05 crore to fraudulent mule accounts, claiming those accounts were for the government’s verification process. Throughout his entire communication with the woman, he was told the funds would be returned after the verification process.
After some time, the complainant was told the charges against him had been cleared but was asked to pay Rs 17 lakh for a “clearance certificate”. It was at this point that the complainant realised he had been cheated and approached the police. After a preliminary inquiry, an FIR was registered in the case at Cyber crime police station. Senior Inspector Swapnali Shinde was probing the case.
Officials have expressed concern that despite extensive awareness campaigns and sensitisation efforts by the government and law enforcement agencies, incidents of digital arrest, online extortion and blackmail continue to be reported. In an advisory issued in May last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs noted a significant rise in complaints related to intimidation, blackmail, extortion, and so-called “digital arrests”. These scams are typically carried out by cyber criminals impersonating officials from law enforcement agencies such as the police, CBI, Narcotics Department, RBI, and Enforcement Directorate and judges.
Such frauds have been serious enough to be flagged at the highest levels, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address last year. As previously reported by Express, these scams are orchestrated by complex, multilayered syndicates operating across borders. Victims’ money is often funneled into mule accounts and then routed to international cybercrime networks through cryptocurrency channels.
