Pune Police Bust Major ‘Digital Arrest’ Racket; Third Accused Arrested in Rs 10.74 Crore Scam
Pune, 11th March 2026: The Pune City Police Crime Branch has made a significant breakthrough in a massive ‘Digital Arrest’ fraud case, arresting a third suspect involved in cheating a senior citizen of over ₹10.74 crore. The Cyber Police Station, which is investigating the multi-crore scam, apprehended the accused from Solapur following a detailed technical investigation.
The Modus Operandi
According to the police, the fraudsters targeted a senior citizen by impersonating officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). They intimidated the victim by claiming that a fake bank account had been opened using the victim’s Aadhaar card and was being used for illegal activities.
The scammers placed the victim under a ‘Digital Arrest,’ threatening that the victim and their family members would be arrested unless they transferred their entire savings into ‘secure’ accounts provided by the fraudsters for verification. Fearing legal action, the victim ended up transferring a staggering ₹10,74,65,000 (Ten crore, seventy-four lakh, sixty-five thousand rupees) to various bank accounts.
Investigation and Previous Arrests
The investigation began after the victim reported the fraud. Police tracked a transaction of ₹75 lakh made on January 30, 2026, to a Yes Bank account, from which ₹6.50 lakh was further moved to three different Bank of Maharashtra accounts.
Using data from the Cyber Crime portal and CCTV footage, the police initially arrested two suspects on February 22, 2026:
Harshad Subhash Dhanatole (24), resident of Karvenagar, Pune.
Samarth Suresh Deshmukh (24), resident of Karvenagar, Pune.
During interrogation, Harshad Dhanatole revealed that cash withdrawn from ATMs was handed over to a person named Rohan Jadhav. The investigation into these two suspects further uncovered their involvement in 29 other cybercrime complaints registered across the country.
The Latest Arrest
While searching for the absconding Rohan Jadhav, the police identified a link to Amar Shivaji Attargi, a resident of Solapur. It was discovered that ₹5 lakh of the cheated amount was transferred to Attargi’s Central Bank of India account and subsequently withdrawn via cheque.
Acting on a tip-off, the Pune Cyber Police laid a trap in the Modikhana area of Solapur and arrested Amar Shivaji Attargi on March 6, 2026. His involvement in the syndicate was confirmed during questioning, and he has already been linked to at least one other crime in Maharashtra.
Massive Network Uncovered
The scale of the operation is vast. The investigation has so far revealed that the victim’s money was distributed across a network of 5,436 different bank accounts. The Pune Police have successfully managed to freeze ₹1.34 crore of the defrauded amount so far.
The Team Behind the Crackdown
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Joint CP Ranjan Kumar Sharma, Addl CP (Crime) Pankaj Deshmukh, and DCP (Economic and Cyber) Vivek Masal. The field team included Senior PI Swapnali Shinde, PI Sangita Devkate, PSI Ajit Bade, and their team members.
Police have urged citizens to remain vigilant against such ‘Digital Arrest’ threats, reminding the public that no government agency or law enforcement official will ever ask for money transfers over video calls or phone calls to ‘secure’ individuals from arrest.
