3 min readUpdated: Aug 13, 2026 04:58 PM IST
A 90-year-old ex-district judge was duped of Rs 2.5 crore by fraudsters who posed as CBI officials and an RBI manager, and kept him under “digital arrest” for around 15 days, police said on Thursday.
The incident came to light after an SBI manager stopped Ganpat Singh Bhandari from transferring more money from his Public Provident Fund (PPF) account. After this, a case was registered at Jaipur’s Jyoti Nagar police station on Wednesday evening, police told news agency PTI.
According to the FIR lodged on a complaint by Bhandari’s nephew, he received a WhatsApp video call on July 28 from an unidentified number.
Fraudsters’ MO
The caller, dressed as a police officer, introduced himself as a CBI officer from Mumbai. He told Bhandari that police authorities detected a Rs 50 crore hawala transaction, of which Rs 40 lakh had been credited to his SBI account.
The fraudster threatened to arrest him and warned him against informing others, police said.
Later, another person claiming to be an RBI manager contacted Bhandari on WhatsApp. He told the victim that money linked to the hawala transaction had been invested in mutual funds and sought details of his financial investments, police said.
Bhandari sent him details of his mutual funds and other financial documents with the callers.
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The fraudsters subsequently instructed him to transfer money to different bank accounts on the pretext of assisting with the investigation. According to the complaint, Bhandari transferred Rs 2.5 crore from his SBI account in Gandhi Nagar between August 3 and 10.
The accused allegedly instructed Bhandari to delete WhatsApp chats, call logs and other messages after each conversation. Police said the instructions helped the fraudsters keep the alleged fraud from the victim’s family.
The fraudsters later asked Bhandari to transfer money from his PPF account as well. When he approached the SBI’s Johari Bazaar branch on Wednesday, the bank manager grew suspicious and stopped the transaction.
The manager, who quizzed Bhandari, informed him that he appeared to have fallen victim to cyber fraud. The victim then contacted his nephew, who subsequently approached Jyoti Nagar police and lodged the complaint.
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Police have registered a case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
Further investigation is underway, police said.
(With PTI inputs)