CHANDIGARH, Dec. 11 — A retired Haryana government officer was defrauded of ₹85 lakh after cybercriminals manipulated him for weeks through a digital arrest scam, making him believe he was implicated in a money laundering case and needed to prove his innocence, police said.
The 75-year-old complainant, a former senior official living in Manimajra’s Modern Housing Complex, said the scam began on Oct. 9 when a caller posing as “Vijay Pandit” from the Telephone Authority claimed his Aadhaar had been misused to open a fraudulent ICICI Bank account. The caller threatened that a case was being drafted against him.
He was then connected to three others claiming to be senior officers — identified as “Rajesh Pradhan,” “Neeraj Thakur” and “Pardeep Singh.” Police said the group used intimidation and warned that both he and his wife could be arrested unless he cooperated with a “financial verification” process.
To make the scheme credible, the scammers sent forged RBI, court and law enforcement documents through WhatsApp. They told the victim he needed a fabricated Priority Innocence Certificate to clear his name. Under fear and pressure, he transferred ₹85 lakh from multiple accounts in Axis Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank between Oct. 16 and Nov. 11.
“The accused assured him the money would be returned after verification and that his case file would be sent to the local police station,” a senior officer said. The communication stopped after November, prompting the victim to approach police.
A case has been registered under BNS Sections 308, 319, 318 and 340. Investigators are tracking the bank accounts involved and may freeze them. “The financial trail is being analysed to identify the account holders and accomplices,” police said.
