E-Paper
Eight arrested for ₹22.03 crore share trading fraud
Pune police arrested eight for cheating an 85-year-old man of ₹22 crore in an online trading fraud, using a fake investment app.
The Cyber Cell of Pune city police has arrested eight people in connection with an online share trading fraud in which an 85-year-old man was cheated of ₹22 crore, officials said on Wednesday.
The fraud took place between October 25, 2025 and January 17, 2026 in Magarpatta, Hadapsar. A case was registered at the Cyber Police Station on January 19 under Sections 316(5), 319(2), 318(4), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
Police said the accused contacted the victim between November 27, 2025 and January 9, 2026, promising high returns on share market investments. After gaining his confidence, they added him to a WhatsApp group and persuaded him to download a fraudulent investment app.
The app displayed fabricated profits, prompting the victim to transfer funds into seven bank accounts. In total, a sum of ₹22.03 crore was siphoned off. The accused neither paid the promised returns nor refunded the principal amount.
The investigation, led by PI Swapnali Shinde, traced the money trail through technical analysis. Police identified ₹1 crore in a Yes Bank account in Ambernath, ₹1.9 lakh transferred from Axis Bank to a Bank of Maharashtra account in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and ₹2.20 lakh and ₹1 lakh in other Bank of Maharashtra accounts.
Those arrested on Saturday include Munil Surendrasinh (51) from Ambernath; Akash Marathe (27), Lala Umap (26), and Parmeshwar Dabhade (23), all from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Investigations revealed that Umap and Dabhade handed over their bank account kits to Sahil Shivsudar (22), who was later taken into custody. Further questioning and technical analysis led police to Vishwajeet Khandare. His Jan Dhan account and related bank details were allegedly passed to Abhijit Nade (21) and Dishant Kambale (22). All were arrested in the case. The accused were produced before a court and remanded to police custody. So far, ₹3.24 crore has been frozen.
Further investigation is underway to identify additional accounts and other members of the network.
