- A 62-year-old woman was defrauded of Rs 77 lakh by fake NCB officers after buying sleeping pills online
- She transferred Rs 3 lakh fearing arrest and later gave net banking access during a WhatsApp video call
- Police arrested five accused, including one who pretended to be a 'good cop' to gain trust and access
A search for a prescribed drug led to a sexagenarian falling prey to a digital arrest and fraud amounting to Rs 77 lakh. The story dates to August of 2024, when a 62-year-old woman, Neeru, was browsing different drug stores' websites to purchase sleeping pills, a medicine she takes every month for her neurological illness. Neeru ordered the required medicines and forgot about them until she received a call from an officer, claiming to be a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer, accusing her of buying "illicit drugs".
Neeru, a former teacher who lives alone in Delhi's Vasant Kunj, panicked. The man, claiming to be from the NCB, said that the department was suspecting her of supplying drugs in the national capital, Delhi.
The NCB officer gave the elderly woman two options: transfer some money to verify the bank account details or face an arrest warrant. Afraid, Neetu transferred Rs 3 lakh to different bank accounts just to prove her innocence.
10 Days Later: 'Good Cop' Joins
10 days later, Neetu received another call, this time from another man who also claimed to be from NCB, but a 'good cop'. The man offered the much-needed validation to Neeru, assuring her of her innocence and promising to recover the money.
Within two days, the 62-year-old received Rs 20,000 back into her account, allegedly the first of many promised transactions to bring back the lost month. The 'good cop' had now gained her trust.
WhatsApp Video Call
Then came a video call on WhatsApp from four men, including the 'good cop'. The four 'officials' asked the woman to share her screen and open her bank account, after which all her money would be returned. Trusting the good cop, the woman followed the instructions and unknowingly gave net banking access to the fraudsters.
Before the woman could realise, multiple debit messages flashed on her mobile phone, with transactions ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. When she called the trusted 'good cop', his phone was switched off.
Real Cops Get Into Play
On September 24, she registered a complaint at the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell. A team under ACP Manoj Kumar and Sub Inspector Karamvir started investigating digital arrest.
After nine months, on June 24, 2025, the police got a lead and arrested Akhilesh, one of the accused, from his rented flat in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar. During the interrogation, Akhilesh pleaded guilty to transferring the money from the victim's bank account, along with accomplices Amjad, Shahid and Shakeel. The accused revealed that he made the woman share her phone screen on a video call, through which they gained access to the bank account.
On June 27, the police raised Punhana in Haryana and arrested Amjad, who won Neeru's trust by pretending to be a good cop, and his accomplice Shahid.
During interrogation, Amjad revealed that he, along with his brother-in-law, Shahid, and friend Shakeel, were conspiring to extort money from the woman by threatening to implicate her in a false case. He also said that the fourth accused, Hamid, was involved in threatening the woman by posing as a fake NCB officer or a 'bad cop'.
On July 1, the police raided Hamid's house in Rajasthan's Deeg and arrested both Hamid and Shakeel despite villagers' efforts to save the two.
Recovery Of Money And Sextortion Link
Neeru has received only Rs 3 lakh so far. The police are investigating several bank accounts through which the money was moved around.
In the mobile phones seized from the five accused, the police have reportedly found evidence of sextortion of other victims. It is further being investigated.
