The Navi Mumbai Cyber Police have busted a major inter-state fraud ring, arresting a 30-year-old Delhi-based cloth merchant, Shahrukh Mehtab Khan, for allegedly swindling a Vashi homemaker out of ₹61.46 lakh.
While Khan was tracked down and apprehended via mobile tower surveillance, the mastermind behind the sophisticated racket has reportedly fled the country to Dubai, prompting authorities to issue a formal Look Out Circular (LOC).
The Anatomy of the Scam
The fraudulent operation relied on forged documents and sophisticated social engineering to gain the victim’s trust:
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The Initial Hook: In July 2023, the accused contacted the homemaker posing as “Sanjay Kumar Ambasta” from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) office. He correctly cited one of her older, legitimate policy numbers to establish immediate credibility.
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The Deceptive Offer: Claiming she had four inactive insurance policies in her name, the caller offered a complete reimbursement if she agreed to surrender them.
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The Forgery: To process the “reimbursement,” the scammers sent fabricated forms, including a fake Insurance Ombudsman Agent Code Deactivation Form carrying unauthorized IRDAI logos, alongside an NPCI NEFT mandate form.
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The Financial Drain: Between August 2023 and April 2024, the fraud ring manipulated the victim into transferring a staggering total of ₹61.46 lakh across multiple transactions under the guise of processing fees, security deposits, and administrative clearance charges.
Investigation and Police Action
After realized she had been conned when no reimbursement ever materialized, the victim lodged a formal complaint on the federal cybercrime portal, triggering an FIR under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Senior Police Inspector Vishal Patil detailed the subsequent crackdown:
“Our cyber units traced the complainant’s fund transfers and established that the money was systematically routed through a highly complex maze of dummy bank accounts. Acting on technical intelligence, we successfully tracked down Shahrukh Khan to his hideout at Ambedkar Nagar in Faridabad and placed him under arrest on May 22, 2026.”
Recoveries and Next Steps
The Navi Mumbai Cyber Cell has already scored a critical win for the victim by freeze-blocking ₹25 lakh still sitting inside a few tied bank accounts used by the ring. The police have already secured a mandate from the local court to systematically revert this frozen amount back into the complainant’s bank account.
Meanwhile, teams are actively coordinating with international immigration channels to track the principal architect of the operation currently suspected to be nesting in Dubai.
