Nagpur Cyber Police have arrested a 60-year-old man from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for allegedly duping a city resident of ₹23.71 lakh in a well-orchestrated “digital arrest” scam.
According to officials, the victim received a phone call between July 2 and July 3, 2025, from a person claiming to be an official from the Telecom Department in Delhi and Colaba Police Station in Mumbai. The caller falsely informed the complainant that he was under investigation in a money laundering case and would be “digitally arrested” if he failed to cooperate.
To make the threat appear credible, the accused sent forged documents via digital platforms. These documents falsely carried logos and seals of the Mumbai Police, Supreme Court of India, Supreme Court Bar Association, Reserve Bank of India, and Enforcement Directorate. Under pressure and fearing legal consequences, the victim was coerced into transferring ₹23.71 lakh to a Bank of Maharashtra account (A/C No. 60538001303).
Following the complaint lodged at Nagpur Cyber Police Station on July 15, a case was registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including 318(2), 318(4), 319(2), 336(2), 336(3), 338, 340(1), 340(2), 204, and 3(5), along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
During the investigation, police identified the bank account holder as Ranjankumar Vishnucharan Patnaik, a resident of Bhatpada, Debidol, Naugaon, Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha. However, the accused was not found at his registered address, and the mobile number linked to the account was switched off.
Using technical surveillance and data analysis, a police team tracked the accused to Bhubaneswar. He was arrested on August 5 and produced before a local court, which remanded him to police custody till August 11, 2025.
Police further confirmed that ₹19,90,392.98 frozen from the accused’s bank account has been ordered to be returned to the victim by the court.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Commissioner of Police Ravindra Singhal, Joint Commissioner Naveenchand Reddy, Additional CP (Crime), and DCP (Cyber) Lohit Matani. The investigation and arrest were executed by a cyber crime team led by Sr PI Baliram Sutar, API Shankar Pandhare, and constables Vinod Tondfode and Rinkesh Thakur.
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