Pune Police Nab Three in ₹2.13 Crore Digital Arrest Scam Targeting Retired CAG Official
Three suspects were arrested from Pune in Maharashtra for allegedly duping a retired senior official of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in Faridabad of ₹2.13 crore after trapping him in a “digital arrest” fraud in January this year, police said on Thursday.
The accused were identified as Pankaj Suhas Kante of Panchsheel Nagar, Saurav Dev Kulle of Prakash Nagar in Ambarnath East, and Ajay Damodar Bhagat of Yavatmal, all in Maharashtra. The three were arrested on Sunday and brought to Faridabad on transit remand on Wednesday. They were produced before a court, which sent Kulle and Bhagat to judicial custody, while Kante was remanded to five days of police custody for interrogation.
Police said 227 active SIM cards, 56 newly issued SIM cards, four SIM boxes, a Redmi mobile phone configured in Chinese, routers, and other equipment used to convert Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls originating abroad into domestic GSM calls were seized from their possession. The equipment was allegedly used to contact victims across India.
According to investigators, Kante was managing the operation on behalf of a Chinese cybercrime syndicate suspected to be operating from Cambodia. Bhagat allegedly procured SIM cards in bulk from various states, while Kulle ensured that the equipment remained functional and replaced SIM cards that were blocked following complaints. Police said Kante was operating with the help of a suspect identified as Jai, based in Delhi, and was receiving instructions from another handler located abroad via Telegram.
Investigators identified the victim as Indra Kumar, a retired CAG official residing in Sector 64C, Faridabad. Police said Kumar’s wife first received a call from a man impersonating a telecom department official, who claimed that her Aadhaar and phone number had been linked to a bank account involved in money laundering. Subsequently, the suspects allegedly impersonated officials of the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Enforcement Directorate, and conducted video calls with the couple, claiming they were under “digital arrest”. They allegedly sent forged fund-freezing notices, arrest warrants, and even a fake Supreme Court order to convince them that the money needed to be transferred for verification.
Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said the suspects induced Kumar to transfer ₹2.13 crore to multiple mule accounts on the pretext of verification. “On January 30, they sent him a no-objection certificate and other forged documents claiming he had been exonerated in the money laundering case. When Kumar tried to contact them to recover his money, he realised he had been defrauded,” Yadav said.
Kumar approached the cybercrime police station in Ballabgarh the same day and registered a case of cheating, forgery, and impersonation against unidentified suspects. Officials said police teams immediately contacted bank authorities and managed to freeze ₹1.25 crore across various accounts, even after the funds had been transferred.
