Gandhinagar: A doctor in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for 103 days, during which cybercriminals forced her to sell her properties, take loans against gold, and ultimately transfer over ₹19.24 crore to them. The digital confinement reportedly lasted between March and June this year.

According to officials, the victim was contacted by multiple people who falsely posed as government and legal authorities: one claimed to be Jyoti Vishwanath from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT); another pretended to be Police Sub-Inspector Mohan Singh; two others introduced themselves as Public Prosecutors Deepak Saini and Venkateswara; while a fifth identified himself as Notary Officer Pawan Kumar. The victim received calls from various phone numbers.

“The accused communicated through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and video calls,” said SP Dharmendra Sharma in a statement. They allegedly told the doctor that offensive messages were being sent from her number and threatened to block her phone lines. Further, they warned her that a criminal case could be filed against her.

The fraudsters also allegedly obtained copies of her Aadhaar card and falsely claimed she was involved in money laundering. Later, they even told her that a money laundering case had been officially registered. They sent a fake legal document naming her as an accused under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

To keep the victim silent, the accused warned her not to disclose anything to anyone.

As per the State Cyber Crime Cell statement, during the 103-day ordeal from March 15 to June 26, the doctor was told that a plainclothes officer was monitoring her and that she must provide full details of her assets to get relief.

“After she shared the property details, the accused coerced her into liquidating her Fixed Deposits (FDs), selling household gold, taking loans on gold kept in her bank locker, selling her house, and offloading shares from her stock portfolio,” the statement said. Ultimately, they made her transfer a total of ₹19,24,41,541 to various bank accounts, under the pretext of a fake ‘Financial Supervisionary Freezing Certificate’, falsely promising the money would be returned after investigation. DeshGujarat