90-year-old ex-judge ‘digitally arrested’, cheated of Rs 2.5 crore in Jaipur

A 90-year-old retired district judge in Jaipur was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for nearly 15 days and cheated of around Rs 2.5 crore by people posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, police said.

The fraudsters allegedly told Ganpat Singh Bhandari that he was linked to a Rs 50-crore hawala transaction and threatened to arrest him if he did not cooperate. They reportedly kept him under constant surveillance through video calls and pressured him into transferring money to different bank accounts.

Fraudsters posed as CBI, RBI officials

According to a complaint filed by Bhandari’s nephew, Ravindra Singh Mohanaut, the retired judge received a WhatsApp video call on July 28 from a man dressed in a police uniform.

The caller allegedly introduced himself as a CBI officer posted in Mumbai and claimed that a Rs 50-crore hawala transaction was detected there. He further claimed that Rs 40 lakh from the alleged transaction had been deposited into Bhandari’s State Bank of India (SBI) account.

The caller allegedly threatened Bhandari with arrest and told him he would be taken to Mumbai if he did not cooperate. The fraudsters also threatened to implicate a family member, adding to the pressure.

The accused allegedly remained in contact with Bhandari through video calls, posing at different times as CBI officers and RBI managers.

Told to delete chats, avoid family

Bhandari was allegedly instructed not to discuss the purported investigation with anyone, including his family. He was also told to delete WhatsApp chats, call logs and other messages after interactions with the callers.

The complaint states that he transferred around Rs 2.5 crore to bank accounts provided by the accused between August 3 and August 10.

The fraud came to light when Bhandari visited SBI’s Johri Bazaar branch on Wednesday morning to transfer money. The bank manager became suspicious after questioning him about the transaction and alerted him that it could be a cyber fraud.

Bhandari then contacted his nephew.

Police put Rs 14 lakh on hold

Jyoti Nagar SHO Gunjan Verma said, “We received a complaint in this regard on Wednesday and have recorded the victim’s statement. We have also succeeded in putting around Rs 14 lakh on hold.”

“We are investigating the remaining amount to ascertain how the money was transferred and subsequently withdrawn. Further investigation is underway,” she added.

Police are examining the bank accounts involved in the transactions and trying to identify those behind the alleged fraud.