Social media influencer arrested for cheating elderly man of Rs 10 crore by posing as CBI officer

NEW DELHI: A social media influencer has been arrested for allegedly cheating an elderly man of more than Rs 10 crore in the name of a digital arrest. The accused, identified as Rohan Jadav, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, surrendered before a court after police froze his bank accounts and other sources of income.

The incident took place in January 2026, when the gang, involving Rohan, contacted the elderly man while posing as CBI officers. Claiming that he was involved in a case, they threatened him with a “digital arrest” and allegedly asked him to transfer Rs 10.74 crore into several bank accounts to avoid legal action.

After realising that he had been cheated, the elderly man approached the police. A breakthrough in the case came after one of the accused withdrew money from an ATM. Police subsequently arrested Harshad Subhash Dhantole, Samarth Suresh Deshmukh and Amar Shivaji Attarkhi. During questioning, Harshad allegedly told police that the money had been handed over to Rohan. Rohan later went into hiding but eventually surrendered before the court.

Police said Rohan had allegedly transferred the money defrauded from the elderly man to 5,436 bank accounts. Investigators also found that he was regularly in contact with some people in Hong Kong. Police said he allegedly carried out financial transactions with Hong Kong-based dealers using digital cryptocurrency and received commissions for transferring money from India into foreign currency. Two cases have been registered against him.