Mumbai: A 76-year-old Dahisar woman was allegedly cheated of ₹1.18 crore by cyber fraudsters who posed as law enforcement officials, accused her of funding terrorists linked to a 2025 Delhi bomb blast and threatened to arrest her. The Mumbai police’s North Regional Division cyber cell has arrested a 24-year-old man accused of providing bank accounts to route the defrauded money.

24-yr-old held for helping cyber fraudsters dupe elderly woman of ₹1.18-cr

The accused, Chandrama Shyambihari Gupta, allegedly opened a bank account and shared its details with the main fraudsters. A portion of the money transferred by the victim passed through the account and was allegedly forwarded to the cybercriminals in return for a commission, police officials said. The police are looking for other suspects involved in the fraud.

According to the complaint, Bhavana Mahendra Vyas received a call on September 6 from a person claiming to be from the Crime Branch office at Crawford Market. After asking about her husband, the caller allegedly told her that she was implicated in a money-laundering case and had provided financial support to terrorists involved in a 2025 bomb blast in Delhi.

The caller threatened that she would have to report to the police headquarters in Colaba for questioning and could be arrested if found guilty. Other people later joined the conversation through video calls and allegedly interrogated her about her financial transactions.

One of the callers reportedly claimed that he was being lenient because of her age, but warned that she would still have to face questioning. The fraudsters then told her that she was under “digital arrest” and must not contact anyone because the investigation was confidential.

They directed her to transfer money from her bank accounts to designated accounts, promising to return the entire amount after the inquiry. Fearing arrest and the allegations of terror financing, Vyas transferred ₹1,18,50,000 to various accounts, according to the complaint.

The purported inquiry was abruptly closed following the transfers. Vyas later told her daughter about the incident, following which the family realised she had been defrauded and approached the police.

The cyber cell registered a case against three unidentified suspects under provisions relating to extortion, fraud and the Information Technology Act. Gupta was detained for questioning and subsequently arrested in connection with the case.