Fraudster dupes elderly Jabalpur man of ₹76 lakh:Claims SC account, instils fear of human trafficking; accused arrested, sent on remand by police court

The Jabalpur Crime Branch has arrested two men from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, in a cyber fraud case involving a 72-year-old man. The accused cheated the elderly victim by posing as IPS officers and showing fake Supreme Court documents. Police said the two men had given their bank accounts to the fraudsters for money. The arrested accused have been identified as Ajay Verma and Vedprakash Verma. The Crime Branch produced them in court and took them on a three-day remand for questioning. Police said the main mastermind of the cyber fraud will soon be identified and arrested by linking evidence. The incident took place on November 24, 2025, when cyber criminals threatened Anil Kumar Nanhoria, a resident of Sanjeevani Nagar, by falsely claiming he was involved in a human trafficking case. Out of fear, he transferred ₹76 lakh to the fraudsters. How the fraud happened On November 22, 2025, Anil Kumar was sitting at his home. Around 10:30 AM, he received a call on his mobile. The accused identified himself as an employee of the Department of Telecom. He told Anil Kumar that a mobile SIM had been issued in his name, which was being used to scare and threaten people. A report for this had been filed at the Delhi police station, where he would have to go and record his statement. When the elderly man requested, he was told to contact this mobile number 9573352514 at the Delhi police station to record his statement online. I am IPS Vijay Kumar speaking Elderly Anil Kumar called the given number around 11:21 AM, and a voice from the other side said, “Who do you want to talk to? I am IPS Vijay Kumar speaking.” The call disconnected immediately after he said this. After 2 minutes, a video call came on the elderly man’s mobile. A person was visible on the screen, who was identifying himself as an IPS officer. He sent Case Number 430/2025 to the elderly man’s mobile number and said that this was received through Delhi Police. At 1:23 PM on November 22, a person named Vijay Kumar again made a video call, posing as an IPS officer. He told Anil Kumar that he is a suspect in the Sadakat Khan human trafficking case registered with the CBI, and an ATM card in your name, belonging to Canara Bank, Mumbai, was found with him. The officer, posing as an IPS and talking on the call, told Anil Kumar that Sadakat Khan had taken his name during interrogation. A letter has also been issued in your name from the Supreme Court, which is being sent on WhatsApp. The person, posing as Vijay Kumar, told the elderly man that this is a secret mission being carried out for national security. If this information goes public, there will not only be a 3-year prison sentence but also a fine of up to 5 lakh. Upon hearing this, the elderly man was stunned. Location to be provided every 3 hours The fraudster, posing as IPS officer Vijay Kumar of the Crime Branch, intimidated Anil Kumar and demanded his location and activity every three hours, also stating that everything must be kept secret. Frightened, the elderly man did as the fraudster instructed. On November 23, 2025, the alleged IPS officer Vijay Kumar again made a WhatsApp call and said that an arrest warrant had been issued in his name, and confiscation proceedings would also take place. Permission would have to be obtained through CBI officer Kirti Sanyal. On November 24, 2025, Anil Kumar received a WhatsApp call from the number 8712821335, stating that permission had been granted for a priority investigation into the action against him. If you want to avoid action, you will have to break all FDs and deposit the funds into the Supreme Court’s account today itself, which will be returned to you after verification. The elderly person, scared by the human trafficking case, believed everything the person posing as an IPS officer said, and then Anil Kumar deposited the amount in one go via RTGS into Supreme Court account number 730905000678 at ICICI Bank, provided by Kirti Sanyal. All the documents of the Supreme Court and Crime Branch sent to the elderly person’s mobile via WhatsApp turned out to be fake. By the time Anil Kumar understood anything, it was too late. Distressed, Anil Kumar complained to the Cyber Police and Crime Branch. Account holder and his accomplice arrested When the Crime Branch investigated Anil Kumar’s complaint, it was found that the account into which he had deposited 76 lakh rupees belonged to Ajay Verma, a resident of Lucknow. Based on the location, the Jabalpur Crime Branch team reached Lucknow, UP, from where they arrested the account holder and his associate Vedprakash Verma, and brought them to Jabalpur on Monday. Crime Branch Inspector Jitendra Patkar said that during interrogation, Ajay Verma stated that money had come into his account, but he did not know who had sent it. The accused stated that on November 24, he received a call on his mobile saying that 76 lakh rupees had come into his account, and to keep one percent (76 thousand rupees) and deposit the rest of the money into the given account. Ajay Verma did the same, and during this entire crime, Vedprakash Verma also cooperated. Vedprakash had introduced him to the fraudster Inspector Jitendra Patkar said that the account holder is Ajay Verma, who was introduced to the fraudster by Vedprakash at a hotel in Lucknow. For this, he was also given commission by the fraudsters. According to the inspector, this chain of fraudsters is very long, involving not one or two, but many people. The Crime Branch investigation has also revealed that on November 24, 2025, approximately 3 crore rupees from various accounts went into the cyber fraudster’s account.