Pune Retired Army Officer Loses Rs 1.28 Crore in Digital Arrest Scam

Pune: A retired Army officer in his seventies has told police that he was cheated of Rs 1.28 crore after fraudsters impersonating telecom officials and officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) trapped him in a so-called “digital arrest” and pressured him to liquidate his savings and fixed deposits.

The complaint, which led to an FIR at the Pune city cyber police station last week, says the scam began with a call on 20 August 2026 from a woman who claimed she was calling from “Telecom Headquarters in New Delhi.” She allegedly told the veteran that a phone number registered in his name was being used from Mumbai to make fraudulent calls and to circulate obscene videos.

The callers intensified the pressure by sending him a fabricated FIR and WhatsApp images that were said to show the offending material. From there, the conversation moved to men claiming to be from the Mumbai Crime Branch and the CBI, who used voice and video calls to sustain the deception.

One of the impersonators appeared on video in police uniform and identified himself as a CBI officer named “Pawar,” while another introduced himself as a senior officer called “Vijay Khanna.” According to the FIR, they questioned the retired officer about his family, bank accounts, fixed deposits and gold holdings, and warned that he could be arrested unless he cooperated with what they described as a verification exercise.

Under what police describe as continuous psychological pressure, the veteran was instructed to break his fixed deposits and move the funds into accounts nominated by the callers. Investigators suspect those accounts were mule accounts used to route stolen money. Between the last week of August and the first week of September, he transferred a total of Rs 1.28 crore from his savings accounts and fixed deposits.

The fraudsters reportedly told him that moving money through multiple accounts was part of a routine investigation process and that the funds would be returned after verification. As the demands continued and more accounts were added, suspicion began to build.

The breakthrough came on 1 September, when the officer’s wife spoke to their daughter, who lives abroad. The daughter immediately recognised the pattern as a digital arrest fraud and alerted her parents. The veteran then contacted the cybercrime helpline and Pune city cyber police, following which the FIR was registered. Police have not publicly identified any accused by their real names, and the investigation is continuing.

The Pune case fits a familiar pattern that has emerged in several digital arrest scams. In such cases, impersonators claim that a victim’s telephone number, Aadhaar details or bank account has been linked to offences such as pornography, money laundering, terrorism or other serious crimes. They circulate fake documents, keep victims under constant video watch, prevent them from contacting family members or the police, and demand transfers “for verification,” promising that the money will be returned.

There is no legal provision in India for a “digital arrest.” Genuine police or central agencies do not ask citizens to shift personal savings into third-party accounts over the telephone.

Pune has seen several major losses of this kind among elderly residents in 2025 and 2026. In some cases, investigators have traced the money through hundreds or even thousands of mule accounts, while in others the proceeds were later converted into cryptocurrency. Official complaint data compiled nationally shows digital-arrest losses running into thousands of crores since 2022, with senior citizens continuing to be among the most frequent targets.

Authorities advise anyone receiving such a call to disconnect immediately, avoid sharing bank details, Aadhaar information or one-time passwords, and refuse any request to transfer money. Suspected fraud should be reported at once through the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, as well as to the local cyber police station. Police say early reporting can improve the chances of freezing mule accounts before the money is moved further.