The complainant, Meena Desai (name changed), is a homemaker living in the Breach Candy area. She was first contacted on December 6 last year, by a caller identifying himself as “Amit Kumar from DHL Courier, Delhi”
The woman was first contacted by the fraudsters last December. REPRESENTATION PIC/ISTOCK
The South Cyber police arrested three individuals for allegedly duping a 78-year-old woman of Rs 1.51 crore in a meticulously orchestrated cyber fraud involving a fake “digital arrest” narrative. The mastermind, operating from Dubai, has been identified as John, while the arrested trio reportedly played a crucial role by providing mule bank accounts to facilitate the crime. The arrested accused have been identified as Sapan Prafulla Kumar, 33, from Diva near Thane; Abbu Bakar, 24; and Imran Ali Inayat Khan, 27, from Rabale in Navi Mumbai.
Digital arrest threats
The complainant, Meena Desai (name changed), is a homemaker living in the Breach Candy area. She was first contacted on December 6 last year, by a caller identifying himself as “Amit Kumar from DHL Courier, Delhi”. The caller falsely claimed that a package attributed to her name allegedly contained expired passports, narcotics and her Aadhaar card, and that all of these had been intercepted by customs officials.
The caller then passed the phone to individuals impersonating Delhi Crime Branch officers using identities like MK Mohandas, Police Inspector Anant Rana, Vijay Pal, and George Mathew. They also posed as officials from the finance department under the government and used WhatsApp video calls, forged documents, and threats of arrest and surveillance to make the victim panic. They also warned her that her bank accounts and investments were under scrutiny and claimed she had been placed under “digital custody”.
Under pressure and fearful of imminent arrest, she was made to transfer a total of R1.51 crore from her bank account into various bank accounts controlled and operated by the fraudsters. She was specifically instructed not to inform her family members. It was only after she confided in relatives that the scam was uncovered. The family reached out to the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930), following which a formal FIR was registered with the cyber police.
A forensic audit of the fund trail revealed that R1.50 lakh had been transferred into a bank account that was under the name of Kunal Devidas Shinde, 40 — a security guard from Kalyan. When contacted, Shinde revealed that he had allegedly handed over access of his account to someone for obtaining a loan. This “someone’ turned out to be one of the accused — Kumar — who was traced and arrested near Dombivli railway station. Kumar revealed that he sourced multiple bank account details, which he passed on to Bakkar and Khan. These dealings took place in Rabale. Accordingly, a trap was laid by the police, leading to Bakkar and Khan’s arrest from Rabale on Sunday morning.
Following the arrests, the police recovered seven debit cards, three cheque books, 12 bank passbooks, 16 mobile phones, two laptops, two QR codes, two diaries, three rubber stamps, and several incriminating documents, which were mostly forged. Police officers revealed that the three accused were unemployed and acted as mules or facilitators for laundering the victim’s money. During interrogation, they revealed that their handler is based overseas in Dubai.
Mastermind in Dubai
A man named ‘John’, who is based in Dubai, is the mastermind of the operation, the arrested accused revealed to the police. The money illegally generated would be routed to him, and he coordinated with the trio on how to execute the scam. “The gang used fear tactics, psychological pressure, and official-looking communication to make the victim comply. This was not a random con, but a well-planned digital trap,” said a senior officer.
The three accused were produced before the vacation court on Sunday and have been remanded to police custody till July 24. The Mumbai police urges citizens to remain vigilant and never share personal or banking details with unknown callers, especially those claiming to be from law enforcement or government departments.
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