PUNE, Oct 30: — An 83-year-old retired government officer in Pune died of a heart attack nearly a month after falling victim to a “digital arrest” fraud in which impostors posing as police and CBI officials allegedly extorted ₹1.2 crore from him, officials said on Thursday.
Police said the fraudsters contacted the victim in August, claiming to be officers from Colaba police station. They told him his name had emerged in a money-laundering case linked to a well-known businessman. The man denied any wrongdoing, but the callers allegedly escalated the threats.
“During a video call, two persons impersonating IPS officer Vijay Khanna and CBI officer Daya Nayak said he and his wife would be arrested,” a Cyber Police Station official said. “They told the couple they were under ‘digital arrest’ and had to cooperate with the investigation.”
Under this pretext, the couple was kept online for hours and allegedly forced to transfer ₹1.19 crore across several accounts between August 16 and September 17. The fraudsters assured them the funds would be returned once the probe cleared their names.
“After realizing they had been duped, we advised them to come forward and file a complaint,” the officer said. “They chose to wait for their daughter to return from abroad.”
The man suffered a fatal heart attack last week. His wife lodged a complaint on Tuesday, a week after his death.
“The fraud and the death are not directly connected, but the stress of the incident may have contributed,” the official said. “We have registered a case and are investigating further.”
The so-called “digital arrest” scam uses intimidation and impersonation of law-enforcement officials to extort money. Victims are often told their bank accounts are under scrutiny and are forced to transfer funds as a “security deposit” to avoid arrest or prosecution.
Police have urged citizens not to respond to unsolicited calls or messages from unknown numbers claiming to be government or law-enforcement officers.
