Cyber fraudster posing as Crime Branch officer arrested

Jhunjhunu: Police Sunday arrested a man in a cyber fraud case involving a ‘digital arrest scam' and impersonation of a Crime Branch officer, in which a retired employee from Churu was duped of Rs 74 lakh. The accused was nabbed from Ahmedabad.Churu Cyber Police Station DSP Vijay Kumar Meena identified the accused as Ravi Kumar Patel, a resident of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He said multiple teams were formed to investigate the case, and ASI Rakesh Meena tracked the accused through technical analysis of bank accounts and mobile numbers used in the fraud.According to police, the victim, Santlal Prajapat of Nyangal Badi, lodged a complaint stating that on April 2, 2025, he received a WhatsApp call from a person posing as a Delhi Crime Branch officer. The caller claimed that a bank account in ICICI Bank, Delhi, linked to his Aadhaar number, was involved in money laundering.Despite the victim denying any such account, the fraudsters sent him a photograph of a passbook and falsely claimed that an arrested accused had revealed he had sold the account for Rs 40,000 and agreed to a 10% share. The fraudsters further alleged that Rs 68 crore had been laundered through the account and demanded 10% of the amount, threatening legal action if he failed to comply. They assured the victim that the money would be verified using an RBI "letter code" and returned within 24 to 72 hours if found legitimate.To lend credibility to the scam, the accused sent forged documents, including a fake Supreme Court notice, a police report, a purported CBI FIR and multiple notices in the name of the Reserve Bank of India.Believing the claims, the victim transferred Rs 74 lakh to accounts provided by the fraudsters. He later realised he had been cheated when the callers became unresponsive and subsequently lodged a complaint on the cyber crime portal.Police said further investigation is underway.