Ahmedabad: 80-yr-old woman from Vastrapur loses Rs 56L to ‘digital arrest’

Ahmedabad: An 80-year-old retired woman from Vastrapur was allegedly duped of Rs 55.50 lakh by cybercrooks who placed her under "digital arrest", threatening her with a fake fraud case and coercing her into transferring large sums over five weeks. According to a complaint filed with cybercrime police on Feb 25, the ordeal began on Jan 1, 2026, when the woman received a phone call from a man claiming to be "Ranveer Singh" from the Colaba police station in Mumbai. The caller told her that her Aadhaar card was found at the house of Naresh Goyal, a key accused in the fraud case, and that an arrest warrant had been issued in her name.
The next day, she received a WhatsApp video call in which she was shown Goyal's photograph and asked if she knew him. After she denied knowing him, another video call followed, this time purportedly showing a courtroom set-up with a "judge" and police officers. The bogus judge allegedly told her she would have to deposit Rs 15 lakh to prove her innocence.Fearful of arrest, the woman transferred Rs 15 lakh to the account of the accused on Jan 5. Over the next month, she was pressured to send more money under various pretexts, including the "verification" of currency notes and additional "investigation" costs.She raised Rs 14.5 lakh by pledging gold jewellery with a gold loan provider and transferred the amount to an account with a private bank. Additional transfers were made from different bank accounts between Jan 15 and Feb 6. In total, Rs 55.50 lakh was transferred.The fraudsters allegedly instructed her not to leave her house or inform family members, warning her that she was under surveillance. They even suggested she sell her flat to settle the "case".The scam came to light when she confided in her daughter and later contacted the national cybercrime helpline on Feb 20. Cybercrime police registered a case of forgery, producing forged documents as genuine, cheating, impersonation as govt officers, and other charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Cybercrime police have begun analysing call records, bank transactions, and WhatsApp chats submitted as evidence.