Nagpur: A 79-year-old civil engineer and construction businessman from Nagpur was allegedly cheated of ₹41.11 lakh by cyber fraudsters who promised to arrange loans and business funding to help expand his construction firm. The fraud surfaced after his death, prompting his family to approach the police.

The victim, Makarand Bhagwat, a resident of Daga Layout on North Ambazari Road, was a director of Khare Tarkunde Infrastructure. According to the complaint filed by his family, Bhagwat was looking to raise funds to expand his construction business when he came in contact with unidentified persons through WhatsApp.

The fraudsters allegedly assured him that they could arrange a business loan and provide the required capital. Gaining his confidence, they persuaded him to deposit money into several bank accounts on different pretexts. Between these transactions, Bhagwat allegedly transferred a total of ₹41,11,400.

However, the promised loan and business funding never materialised. The WhatsApp contacts allegedly continued to extract money from him without providing the promised financial assistance.

Bhagwat died on September 21, 2026. His family subsequently discovered the transactions and suspected that he had been duped in an online loan scam.

The complaint was initially lodged at the Cyber Police Station in the South Region of Mumbai. A Zero FIR was later transferred to Nagpur, where a case was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

Police are investigating the case to identify the persons operating the WhatsApp accounts, trace the beneficiary bank accounts and establish the movement of the defrauded amount.