The Anti-Extortion Squad of the Pune Crime Branch have arrested a man for misusing the ‘1930’ National Cybercrime Helpline by deliberately transferring small amounts of money into people’s bank accounts and then falsely reporting cyber fraud to get their accounts frozen. The accused — Paresh Kothari — would then allegedly approach the account holders and demand money to “settle” the matter and get their accounts unfrozen.
Rs 5 lakh
Amount accused demanded to unfreeze bank account
Case leads to arrest
The case came to light in Pune in March, following a complaint filed by a 42-year-old businessman from Rajkot, Gujarat. According to the complainant, on March 9, 2026, two transactions of Rs 1000 and Rs 2000 were credited to his Bank of Baroda account from accounts allegedly linked to Pravin Kothari and Pushpa Kothari of Dhankawadi, Pune. The complainant did not know either of them. Subsequently, he discovered that his bank account had been blocked. When he contacted the person to inquire about the money, there was no response. After sometime he got a WhatsApp call from some other mobile number.
‘Friend’ of police
In June, the complainant contacted the accused to unfreeze his bank account. He met the accused in Pune on June 12. During the meeting, the accused allegedly flashed an identity card saying ‘Police Friend’ and demanded R5 lakh to resolve the issue.
Complaint finally filed
After consulting his lawyer, the complainant approached the police and filed a complaint on July 13. The complainant later alleged that the accused continued to contact him and eventually demanded Rs 4.25 lakh.
Probe and arrest
The Anti-Extortion Squad subsequently launched an investigation and arrested Pravin Kothari on Thursday. Police are examining the alleged use of the ‘1930’ cyber helpline, the bank accounts involved in the transactions, and identity claims. The complainant handed over WhatsApp chats and audio recordings to the Parvati police station, Pune, and an FIR has been registered under relevant BNS section.
“We are probing whether Pravin was involved in a larger racket targeting multiple bank account holders by deliberately triggering cyber-fraud complaints,” said an officer.
RAW officer claims...
The accused introduced himself as a RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) officer posted in Pune and claimed that he had transferred money to several people’s accounts and subsequently got their accounts frozen.
He demanded Rs 5 lakh from the complainant to get his bank account unfrozen. Saying he couldn’t pay the amount, the complainant offered Rs 50,000 instead.
The accused rejected the offer, claiming that another person was willing to pay Rs 10 lakh for the same purpose.
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