A case of cyber fraud has come to light in Rajkot, where a retired BPCL officer, Ashwin Talatiya, was duped of ₹1.03 crore by scammers posing as Mumbai Crime Branch officials. The incident, which occurred in July, had prompted the Cyber Crime Police to register a  case and launch an investigation.

On July 9, 2024, Talatiya received a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be Inspector Ajay Patil from the Mumbai Crime Branch. The caller informed Talatiya that an FIR had been filed against him for involvement in a money laundering case and that they had arrested a person named Naresh Goyal, who had links to his case.

The scammers also introduced another person who claimed to be a senior officer named Vinay Kumar Chaube. This individual further intimidated Talatiya by stating that an arrest warrant had been issued against him and that he would be arrested by CBI staff within two hours. The caller instructed Talatiya to speak with another person named Akash Kulhari, who would provide further instructions.

Kulhari who claimed to be a CBI official presented him with fake notices purportedly from the Supreme Court and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to intimidate him.The scammers exploited Talatiya’s trust by using official-looking materials and impersonating as Mumbai Crime Branch officials

Kulhari also convinced him to download the Skype application and attend a fake Supreme Court hearing. Subsequently, Kulhari persuaded him to transfer substantial sums of money to different accounts totalling  to ₹1,03,67,000 claiming it was necessary to prevent his arrest.

After realising that he had been scammed, Talatiya filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police on July 26, he registered a case against the individuals involved. 

Based on his complaint, PI B B Jadeja of the Cyber Crime Police has filed a case under IT and Indian Penal Code sections against the individuals .

The police are now investigating the matter and attempting to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

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