Man in Jharkhand allegedly loses Rs 1.2 crore in two-month cyber fraud

PTI, September 3, 2026, Sahibganj: A man in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district was allegedly duped of Rs 1.20 crore by cybercriminals who posed as CBI officers and kept him under "digital arrest" for nearly two months, police said on Wednesday.

Gautam Chandra Das was threatened with arrest in a fake CBI case and allegedly coerced into transferring money to multiple bank accounts on around 10 occasions, Sahibganj DSP (Headquarters) Ravikant Sao said.

Das told police that he had saved the money for his daughter's wedding.

Das received a call in June from a person identifying himself as Pradeep Singh, who claimed to be a senior CBI officer. The caller allegedly told him that a serious case had been registered against him and that arrest proceedings could soon be initiated.

The cybercriminals allegedly kept Das under "digital arrest" through video calls, claiming that he was under surveillance, police said.

To make the deception appear genuine, the accused allegedly created a fake courtroom and made Das appear before a purported CBI court through video calls on three occasions, they said.

During the sessions, he was allegedly threatened with legal action, fines and arrest and was asked to transfer money to various bank accounts on the pretext of closing the case or protecting him from arrest, they added.

After realising that he had been duped, Das first informed a relative and subsequently approached the police.

"An SIT is scrutinising the bank accounts, mobile numbers and transaction trails used by the cybercriminals. The police aim to trace the flow of the defrauded funds to locate the perpetrators and expose their network," Sao said.