76-yr-old Vadaj woman loses Rs 5.3L to ‘digital arrest’

Ahmedabad: A 76-year-old woman living alone in Nava Vadaj was allegedly cheated of Rs 5.3 lakh by fraudsters who posed as police officers and showed her documents pertaining to court proceedings on WhatsApp video calls. On March 15, she received a video call from an unknown number in which a man in a police uniform introduced himself as an official from Delhi Crime Branch. He told her that a bank account opened using her Aadhaar card was used for money laundering.According to the complaint, the woman said she first received photographs of a man and was asked whether she knew him. After she said she did not, she began getting WhatsApp voice and video calls from multiple numbers, with the callers posing as police officers. They allegedly told her that proceedings in a fake bank account case were underway in a Delhi court. The complaint said the accused then told her that if she wanted to save herself, she would have to pay court case fees. She further alleged that the fraudsters gathered details about her family, bank accounts, fixed deposits, jewellery, property and credit cards. They also allegedly threatened her and instructed her not to let anyone come home, not to visit anyone else's house, and not to tell anyone about the legal matter, warning that she would otherwise be taken to a police station immediately. She also alleged that forged letters purportedly from the Supreme Court and the Intelligence Bureau were sent to her.After being pressured to arrange funds, she was made to transfer Rs 5.3 lakh through RTGS from her account on March 25 to an account at a private bank. The alleged fraud came to light when her son, who lives in Surat, found suspicious WhatsApp chats on her phone. A cybercrime complaint was then lodged.On Wednesday, she registered a complaint under BNS Sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 204 (personating a public servant), 205 (wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent), 308(5) (extortion by putting any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt), 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery, intending that the document or electronic record forged shall be used for the purpose of cheating), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 340(2) (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine). Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.