Cyber fraudsters impersonating Mumbai Police officials allegedly cheated a 72-year-old retired teacher of ₹1.61 crore by placing him under what they termed a “digital arrest” through repeated video calls.

The incident was reported from the Tibetan Colony in Mundgod, Uttara Kannada district, police said on Friday.

According to a complaint filed on Thursday, the victim, Palden, received a WhatsApp call from an unidentified person claiming to be an inspector from Colaba Police Station in Maharashtra. The caller alleged that multiple ATM cards had been recovered from a terrorist arrested in Mumbai and that one card was registered in Palden’s name.

The fraudster further claimed that large sums of money had been transferred from Palden’s bank accounts and that a money laundering case had been registered against him. To reinforce the claim, the accused conducted video calls while wearing a police uniform and shared fake bank statements, a senior police officer said.

Palden was told that to avoid arrest, his funds had to be deposited into a so-called “National Fund”, with the assurance that the money would be returned after the investigation. The fraudsters also warned him not to speak to anyone and instructed him to share his location via WhatsApp every two hours, describing the process as a “digital arrest”.

Fearing legal action, Palden liquidated his fixed deposits and borrowed money from relatives, transferring ₹1.61 crore in multiple instalments to accounts provided by the fraudsters.

After realising that he had been cheated, Palden approached the Karwar Cyber Crime Police Station, where a case has been registered. Police said an investigation is underway to trace the accused and the money trail.

Inputs from PTI

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