Fraudsters Dupe Retired Teacher Of Over Rs 38 Lakh After Digitally Arresting Him In Gujarat
Maheshbhai Parmar said the fraudsters posing as officials from the TRAI, Mumbai Crime Branch and a Supreme Court judge duped him of Rs 38.7 lakh.
Published : September 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM IST
Ahmedabad: In a shocking incident of online fraud, a retired teacher in Gujarat's Ahmedabad was duped of over Rs 38 lakh by fraudsters, who digitally arrested him while posing as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) and IPS officers.
According to officials, Maheshbhai Hiralal Parmar, a retired teacher from Ahmedabad, was defrauded of Rs 38,70,000 in a sophisticated online scam. The incident occurred between September 12 and September 21, 2025, and involved threats and video calls by the fraudsters posing as officials from the TRAI, the Mumbai Crime Branch, and a Supreme Court judge.
Sequence of events
According to officials, Parmar, 59, in his complaint said that he received a call on September 12, 2025, from a person who identified himself as Ajay Mehta and claimed to be a TRAI official. The caller claimed that a SIM card was registered in Parmar's name and that he was involved in illegal activities, including pornography and pornographic videos.
The fake TRAI official then connected the call to one Sandeep Roy, who claimed to be an IPS officer with the Mumbai Crime Branch. "Roy", as per officials, threatened Maheshbhai with filing an FIR and claimed his Aadhaar card was linked to a money laundering case involving a man named Naresh Goyal. To avoid arrest, he was asked to “cooperate” with the investigation.
Obtaining Personal Information By Posing As An IPS Officer
Parmar said that the scammers maintained constant contact with Parmar and his family via video calls, impersonating several officials, including another IPS officer, Vijay Khanna. They forced the family to stay at home and demanded personal and financial information, including bank balances, fixed deposits, and details of their gold and vehicles. The scammers also asked the family to uninstall social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Telegram, and threatened that their location was being tracked.
Fear of the Fake Court
According to the complainant, the accused staged a fake court proceeding over video call, where a person posing as a judge told Parmar that he would be under surveillance by the Crime Branch for a week. The fraudsters offered Parmar two options to prove his innocence: come to Mumbai for a face-to-face investigation or conduct an online transaction from home. Under pressure, Parmar chose the online option, he said.
The fraudsters forced Parmar to transfer large sums of money to various bank accounts in three separate transactions. Parmar said that between September 15 and September 19, 2025, he was coerced into transferring a total of Rs 38,70,000 into various bank accounts. The fraudsters promised to return the money within 48 to 72 hours and sent fake documents such as a "PCC certificate" and "NOC certificate" from the Supreme Court.
How The Fraud Came To Light
The fraud came to light when Parmar read news of another victim's "digital arrest" in a similar manner in the newspaper. He realized he had fallen victim to a similar fraud. He immediately contacted the cybercrime helpline.
The Ahmedabad Cybercrime Police Station has registered a case and is investigating the matter. A case has been filed against Ajay Mehta, Sandip Roy, Vijay Khanna, and an unknown person who claimed to be a Supreme Court judge.
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