Retired Bank Manager Duped of Rs 3.84 Crore by Fake Colaba ATS Officers

A 64-year-old retired bank manager from Juhu was allegedly duped of ₹3.84 crore after cyber fraudsters posing as Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) officers, including one claiming to be stationed in Colaba, placed him under a "digital arrest" for 10 days in a fabricated terror-funding case.

The fraudulent operation began on August 7 when the victim received a call from an individual claiming to be Sub-Inspector Aakash Sharma from the Colaba ATS. The caller alleged that a mobile SIM card linked to the retired manager's Aadhaar card had been purchased in his name and used illicitly.

Shortly after, another imposter contacted the victim, identifying himself as Inspector Prem Kumar Gautam from the Lucknow ATS. This caller claimed that the victim's identification documents had been used to open a bank account in Jammu and Kashmir, which had allegedly received ₹7 crore intended for terrorist activities.

To escalate the pressure, the fraudsters sent the victim a forged letter bearing the name of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which falsely claimed that the Supreme Court had issued a warrant for his arrest. The scammers coerced the victim into complete isolation from his family and threatened the arrest of his relatives if he failed to comply with their instructions.

Between August 7 and August 17, while under continuous intimidation during the digital arrest, the victim transferred a total of ₹3.84 crore to various accounts directed by the fraudsters.

Following the report of the fraud, police initiated an investigation and have frozen ₹2 crore distributed across 150 bank accounts. Law enforcement officials are continuing efforts to trace and recover the remaining stolen funds.