‘This is Vishwas Nangre Patil’: Pune couple lose Rs 68 lakh in month-long ‘digital arrest’

The teacher received a WhatsApp video call on July 29 from an unknown number. A man wearing a police uniform introduced himself as SI Sandeep Rao from the Worli police and told her that a Rs 2-crore illegal transaction had taken place from her account with a bank’s Worli branch and that a case would have to be registered against her. She denied having any such account or involvement in any criminal activity.

She was then put in touch with another man who identified himself saying “This is Vishwas Nangre Patil speaking”. During a conversation lasting around two hours, the fraudster posing as the senior IPS officer allegedly sought details of the money she and her husband had in their bank and post office accounts, their LIC policies, and the gold they owned. When the woman told him that she and her husband were elderly people and therefore could not travel to Mumbai, the fraudsters allegedly told her they would “help” them. They instructed the couple to transfer all their money to some accounts, promising that it would be returned once verification was completed.

Fearing arrest, the couple transferred Rs 40 lakh from both of their post office savings accounts to the mule account given by the fraudsters. A few days later, the fraudsters told the couple to pledge their gold with a gold loan entity and deposit the proceeds in the mule accounts, which the fraudsters claimed were government accounts.

She and her husband were told not to leave their house as they were under “digital arrest” and to send a WhatsApp message reading “I am safe at home” every two hours. She was allegedly warned that if she stepped outside, she would be arrested. When the woman later began asking for her money back, the callers allegedly told her that the “case” was in its final stage and that she would have to make further payments before the money could be returned. The couple then broke their LIC policies and transferred the proceeds. The couple ended up sending a total of Rs 68.8 lakh of their life’s savings.

When the real IPS officer appeared on TV

The fraud came to light on September 4 when the woman and her husband saw a television report about Dahi handi celebrations in which IPS officer Vishwas Nangre Patil was speaking. They realised that they had been speaking to fraudsters.

The couple then approached the Khed police, who registered an FIR and began an investigation into the bank accounts to which the money was transferred and the phone number used to contact the victims.

After his name was misused in cyber frauds, Nangre Patil has issued advisories warning people against such scams and impersonation attempts.

Despite repeated awareness campaigns by the government and police, “digital arrest” scams continue to claim victims. Fraudsters typically pose as officials from agencies such as the police, CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau, National Investigation Agency, or the Reserve Bank of India, using threats of arrest and legal action to intimidate victims into transferring money.

Investigators say the money is often routed through mule bank accounts before being transferred through layers of accounts to cybercrime networks, including those operating across international borders, with cryptocurrency sometimes used to move the proceeds.