73-year-old retired prof, husband lose ₹11.42 cr to digital arrest

The frauds claimed the SC had directed a multi-agency probe against her for money-laundering, terrorist activities, and foreign exchange violations.

MUMBAI: Frauds impersonating officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Mumbai police and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have duped a retired professor of St Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad and her husband of assets worth ₹11.42 crore.

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Digital arrests in 2025

The frauds claimed the Supreme Court had directed a multi-agency probe against her for money-laundering, terrorist activities, and foreign exchange violations, and placed her and her husband under ‘digital arrest’ for nearly three months. They stayed in touch via WhatsApp calls, obtained details about the couple’s savings and assets and coerced them to transfer the same under various threats, according to the case registered by the CBI on March 11 against unidentified members of an alleged inter-state cyber fraud syndicate under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

The alleged fraud occurred between June 10, 2025 and August 31, 2025. A case was initially registered by the Cyber Crime Police, Gandhinagar, on September 29, 2025, and it was transferred to the CBI via a notification issued by the Central government.

According to CBI officials, the retired professor received the first call from the frauds at around 9.15am on June 10, 2025. The caller claimed she was a DoT employee from Delhi and made her talk to a man in police uniform who claimed to be ‘Inspector Vijay Khanna’ from Colaba police station.

“Khanna told her that a mobile number had been activated in Mumbai using her Aadhaar card, and it had been used to send offensive, threatening text messages to many people. A Canara Bank credit card was also found in her name which was used in money-laundering activities, Khanna told her.” a CBI official familiar with the case said, requesting anonymity.

‘Khanna’ subsequently allegedly arranged a conference call with a certain ‘DCP Neeraj Kumar from the CBI’ who was seated in what appeared like a police station, with two other individuals in uniform seated around him. One of the fraudsters also posed as ‘ADCP Daya Nayak’ and told her that her investments, assets, and bank accounts would be investigated as part of the probe.

“Neeraj Kumar spoke to me throughout the day and stated that, in my name and using my Aadhaar number, a Canara Bank account had been opened at the Andheri branch in Mumbal. He claimed that this account was used by Naresh Goyal, owner of the [grounded] Jet Airways, for transactions involving crores of rupees. According to him, these funds were being used for money laundering, hawala, and terrorist activities,” the complainant said in her statement.

The frauds warned her that if she did not cooperate, or informed a lawyer or the local police, she could be arrested “without a warrant”.

“This terrified me even more, and believing their claims, I stayed in my room for video calls the entire day. During the video calls, they repeatedly threatened me with lifelong imprisonment, claiming I was involved in money laundering, identity theft, drug trafficking, terrorist activities,” the retired professor said in her complaint.

To give the con job a genuine look, the frauds shared several fabricated letters via WhatsApp, including a fake Supreme Court order directing investigation against the complainant by agencies such as the CBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). They instructed the complainant not to speak to anyone about the matter and not to leave the house, claiming that her life was in danger and there was round-the-clock surveillance outside her house.

“By falsely implicating her in a serious offence, punishable with life imprisonment, they created fear and intimidation, obtained details of their jewellery, bank accounts, mutual funds, and investments,” the officer quoted earlier said. “Under the pretext of verifying their bank accounts, they forcibly made the couple transfer ₹11.42 crore to various bank accounts.”

The frauds had claimed that once the bank accounts were verified and found to be clean, the entire amount would be refunded without interest, the officer added.