Mumbai: A senior citizen lost Rs 64 lakh to cyber fraudsters who lured him, claiming an insurance refund and a digital arrest. The victim had purchased a life insurance policy in 2011, but the policy was closed after he failed to pay the premium. A man who identified himself as Deepak Rathi from an insurance company, under the pretext of activating the policy, made him pay into different accounts, and a few days later, another man who claimed to be from Enforcement Directorate threatened him, saying that his money had been routed to a terror organisation and, under the pretext of a digital arrest, knocked off Rs 64 lakhs.According to the FIR registered with the East Region Cyber police, the victim said he purchased four Birla Sun Life Insurance policies in September 2011 through a person identified as Pawar, after being contacted by a woman named Neha Bajaj. The policies were subsequently closed after he was unable to continue paying the premiums.In June 2015, a man identifying himself as Deepak Rathi allegedly contacted him and promised to reactivate the policies and recover his money. Later, another person identifying himself as Iyer claimed that Rathi had died and that he had taken over the file. The complainant alleged that he was repeatedly asked to deposit money into different bank accounts but never received any refund.In 2021, another person, identified as Deepak Kumar, allegedly contacted him and made similar promises. The complainant said he transferred money to bank accounts provided by the accused.From 2023 to 2026, a person identified as Lakhotia and another person using the name Iyer allegedly threatened him with action by the Enforcement Directorate, police and other govt agencies. The accused allegedly obtained his banking, PAN and Aadhaar details and those of his wife and continued demanding money.The complainant alleged that Rs 63.58 lakhs was withdrawn from his account through ATMs and other means, while another Rs 51.25 lakhs was deposited into his account and allegedly misappropriated.He further alleged that on August 16, 2026, persons identifying themselves as Vishal Thakur and others subjected him to a purported “digital arrest” through a WhatsApp video call and threatened him with official action.
