SNE NETWORK.BATHINDA.
Cyber thugs kept the advocate under house arrest in Bathinda, Punjab and defrauded him of Rs 90 lakh. The crooks kept the senior advocate under house arrest for 14 days by posing as fake CBI officers. The advocate was cheated by threatening to register a case of money laundering against him. At present, the Cyber Cell Police Station has registered a case against unknown people on the complaint of the victim advocate and started further action.
Advocate Harinder Singh, resident of Dashmesh Public School near 100 Feet Road, Bathinda, said that on the morning of August 19, 2025, when he was at his home, he received a message from a WhatsApp number. Soon after this, a WhatsApp call came from the said number, in which an unknown person introduced himself as CBI officer ASI Vijay Khanna and told him that a case has been registered against him in connection with money laundering, during the investigation of which it has been found that your Aadhaar card and mobile number have been used in this fraud. The fake CBI ASI said that now the higher officials of CBI will interrogate him through video call.
The victim advocate said that after this he received a video call from another number, in which a person was in the uniform of a senior police officer. The said fake CBI officer asked the advocate his name and address, then asked him to send a copy of his Aadhaar card, on which the advocate sent him a photocopy of his Aadhaar card. After this, the said person said that a case has been registered against you, in which the CBI puts you under house arrest in your house.
The fake CBI officer said that till our investigation is completed, you will not be able to talk to any family member or any person. If you do this, you will be arrested from your house. From 19 to 25 August, the said fake CBI officer kept threatening him several times through WhatsApp and video calls. On August 25, the said person obtained information about the bank balance, property and other valuables from the lawyer. After this, the said person said that he would have to transfer Rs 28 lakh as security. The victim lawyer was continuously threatened through WhatsApp and video calls, due to which he kept transferring money to the accounts of the scoundrels out of fear. In this way, the thugs kept the lawyer under house arrest from 19 August 2025 to 1 September 2025 and transferred Rs 90 lakh to different accounts.
The victim lawyer Harinder Singh transferred Rs 28 lakh to the ICICI Bank account on 25 August 2025. After this, Rs 41 lakh was deposited in the Sindh Bank account mentioned by the thugs on 27 August, while the next day on 28 August, Rs 5.5 lakh was transferred to another bank account. After this, on August 29, Rs 4 lakh was deposited by the lawyer in the ICICI Bank account and on the same day another Rs 5.5 lakh was deposited in the same account through two transactions. Similarly, on August 30, 2025, the lawyer transferred Rs 5 lakh from his account to the Indian Overseas Bank account, while on the same day Rs 5 lakh was transferred to the Ojais Bank account mentioned by the fraudsters. Thus, Rs 90 lakh was defrauded in these 14 days.
The fake CBI officer was still demanding more money from the lawyer, but when the lawyer asked his daughter to borrow money, the whole incident was revealed. Lawyer Harinder Singh spoke to his daughter Amandeep Kaur in this matter. When she reached her father’s lawyer’s house in Bathinda with her husband, she showed them the chat with the CBI officials, after which this fraud was revealed. After this, the lawyer lodged a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station. Inspector Sukhveer Kaur, in-charge of the cyber cell of the police station, said that a case has been registered under various sections against the unknown fraudsters and investigation into the matter has been started.