Nagpur: An 87-year-old retired Coal India employee from Ambazari fell victim to a sophisticated cyber fraud after fraudsters posing as an IPS officer allegedly threatened him with arrest in a fabricated money laundering and drug trafficking case, coercing him into transferring ₹10.10 lakh.

According to Ambazari Police, the complainant, Rampal  (87), a resident of Ambazari, lodged a complaint after realizing he had been cheated.

Police said the incident took place between July 3 and July 6, 2026, when the victim received a call from a mobile number allegedly used by the accused. The caller identified himself as IPS officer Ravi Kumar from Mumbai and falsely claimed that the complainant’s bank details had surfaced during an investigation into a ₹68 crore HDFC Bank fraud.

The fraudster further alleged that a person named Sandeep Kumar was involved in the scam and falsely claimed that 180 fraudulent bank accounts, along with cases related to sedition and cocaine trafficking, had been linked to the investigation. The caller threatened the elderly man with immediate arrest unless he cooperated.

To avoid the purported legal action, the victim was instructed to transfer ₹10.10 lakh to a bank account allegedly provided by the fraudsters. Believing the claims to be genuine, he transferred the amount.

After discovering that he had been deceived, the victim approached the police.

Based on his complaint, Ambazari Police registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 319(2), 204, 318(4), and 3(5), along with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, which deals with cheating by personation using computer resources.

Police have launched an investigation to trace the unidentified cyber fraudsters.