An 80-year-old retired doctor in Rajkot allegedly lost ₹58.50 lakh in a digital arrest scam after callers posing as Mumbai police officers threatened her with arrest. Gujarat police have arrested two Ahmedabad-based factory owners, alleging they rented their company’s current account to cybercrime operators. Investigators traced the victim’s payment to the account and said it received around ₹2.50 crore in suspected cyber-fraud proceeds from across India within six days. Police allege the account owners received commissions for allowing the network to use the account.
Gujarat Digital Arrest Scam Leaves Retired Doctor Rs 58.50 Lakh Poorer, Two Arrested
An 80-year-old retired doctor of Rajkot was allegedly duped of Rs 58.50 lakh after fraudsters claiming to be Mumbai police officers threatened her with arrest.
The fraudsters had posed as Mumbai police officers and carried out a digital arrest scam on an 80-year-old retired doctor in Rajkot, who allegedly lost Rs 58.50 lakh.
Gujarat police have arrested two brothers-in-law who owned a factory in Ahmedabad for allegedly renting out the current account of their company to a cybercrime network.
The account received about Rs 2.50 crore as proceeds of alleged cyber fraud from various parts of India in six days during the probe, police said.
How the Gujarat digital arrest scam unfolded
On September 21, the retired doctor received a call from an unknown WhatsApp number of a man speaking in Hindi who identified himself as Sanjay Singh.
Singh reportedly stated she was a Mumbai police sub-inspector attached to Colaba police station and that her Aadhaar and ATM cards were recovered during a raid.
He connected the documents to Hitesh Mehta, a manager at India Cooperative Bank in Mumbai who is reportedly being investigated in a money laundering case.
The caller allegedly threatened the woman with arrest and told her to stay under house arrest as the alleged investigation continued over video calls.
Another alleged participant, Anil Sir, in a khaki uniform, is said to have pretended to be a senior officer and kept pressurising the retired doctor.
The accused allegedly threatened the woman with arrest and legal action and made her transfer Rs 58.50 lakh before trying to transfer another Rs 21 lakh.
A bank employee noticed the second transaction and alerted authorities, enabling police to intervene before the additional payment could be completed, ending the alleged digital arrest.
Rs 58.50 lakh traced through company account
Cybercrime investigators traced the Rs 58.50 lakh transferred by the retired doctor to a current account of a company owned by Makwana and Parmar.
The two men operated factories in Ahmedabad and allegedly rented the company account to cybercrime operators, police said, adding they earned a six per cent commission for this.
Investigators combing through transaction records say the money transferred was then moved out of that account into other accounts that were reportedly linked to the wider fraud network.
Further probe revealed that the account received some Rs 2.50 crore in suspected proceeds of cyber fraud from across the country in just six days.
Detectives believe Makwana and Parmar were acting as ‘mule account providers’, providing bank accounts to cybercrime networks to receive and transfer allegedly stolen funds.
Gujarat police expand investigation
Gujarat cybercrime police in Ahmedabad arrested Darshan Makwana and Shubham Parmar in connection with the case after technical analysis of transactions and scrutiny of bank records.
Police seized four costly mobile phones worth about Rs 1.20 lakh and a Dell laptop from the accused during the investigation.
Investigators are now working to identify the alleged main operators who controlled transactions, received the defrauded money and may have coordinated the wider cybercrime network.
Police suspect the alleged masterminds may be operating from across state borders or outside India, but the investigation has not yet revealed their identities.
The cybercrime team is also seeking to freeze bank accounts and to track the movement of suspected fraud proceeds, and is investigating other accounts that may have been used.
What happens next
The investigation continues to look at how the suspected proceeds were gathered and moved, with police looking into the wider network, other account holders and transaction trails.
The developments offer a glimpse for those tracking the case into how digital arrest scams can blend impersonation, video call monitoring and threats of immediate legal action.
Sprouts News will continue to follow the investigation as officials seek to identify the alleged operators of the network and learn more about the suspected cyber fraud.
