Hyderabad Police Nabs Bank Employee from Bengaluru in Digital Arrest Fraud Case
The accused was involved in seven cases across India, including two in Telangana: Police
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad cyber crime police apprehended a bank employee in a digital fraud case.
The accused Prathap Kesari Pradhan (32) of Bengaluru was involved in seven cases across India, including two in Telangana. Pradhan was employed as a customer relations officer in the account section of a private bank at Bangalore.
His role was to make the customers open savings and current accounts and maintain customer relationships. Further, he lured the customers by taking their bank account details, and paying them a commission for each transaction, the police said.
The police said Pradhan shared the bank account details to fraudsters through WhatsApp and gained the money illegally. He allegedly shared the account credentials with fraudsters, which were later used for fraudulent transactions.
Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner of Police Cyber Crimes, Dara Kavitha, said a female victim aged 60 years from Hyderabad, lodged a complaint stating that that she became a victim of a digital arrest fraud. She stated that on July 4, 2025, around 10 a.m., she received a call from an individual identifying himself as Pradip Sawant, posing as a police officer from Andheri-East, Mumbai, who informed her that a case had been registered on her involving her Aadhaar card, bank accounts, and money laundering.
She was threatened with imprisonment of three to 11 years and a fine of Rs.15 lakh if she failed to cooperate. The fraudsters connected her on a six-hour conference or video call with persons posing as police and RBI officials and instructed her to arrange Rs. 10 lakh for tracing the alleged fraudsters.
Under fear and pressure, she withdrew funds from her fixed deposit and transferred Rs.10.02 lakh to the account provided by them. She was also sent forged documents, including letters purportedly from CBI, RBI, and ED, along with a fake police ID card.
She stated that she was assured her money would be refunded within 24 hours along with a clearance certificate. Explaining the modus operandi of the accused, Kavitha said the fraudsters, posing as police and CBI officials, contacted the victim via WhatsApp, claiming her Aadhaar was linked to a criminal case.
The fraudsters use fake Supreme Court documents and a digital arrest tactic to keep the victim under psychological pressure. Convince the victim to transfer funds to accounts they controlled, presenting it as a legal safeguard. The scam involved multiple individuals, phone numbers, and bank accounts, indicating an organized cyber fraud ring.
The fraudsters threatened her that they would arrest if payments were not made. Subsequently, the victim made Rs.10.02 lakh transactions over nine days.
