A 32-year-old businessman from Malad West, who sought a Rs 10 lakh loan through the Khatabook app to expand his business, ended up losing around Rs 32 lakh to fraudsters. The accused kept demanding multiple fees under various pretexts, and after realising he was being defrauded, the victim lodged a complaint with the North Cyber police station.
Acting on the complaint, police traced and arrested an accused from Delhi. The individual, identified as Vikas Kumar, 20, a resident of the Shahbad Dairy area in North West Delhi, was apprehended on September 18, with the help of the local police. He was medically examined and produced before the local court, where police sought a two-day transit remand to bring him to Mumbai for further investigation.
Case details
According to the police sources, the complainant runs a small imitation jewellery packing unit. In June 2025, while seeking a loan, he downloaded the Khatabook app. Soon after, he received calls from individuals posing as loan agents who lured him with the promise of loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
The fraudsters, identifying themselves as Nitin Kumar, Ashwini Kumar, and later Dayashankar Mishra, obtained his Aadhaar, PAN, and bank details over WhatsApp. They sent fake loan approval messages and extracted money from him under various pretexts such as “TDS, NOC, loan insurance, GST, and processing charges”.
Between June 9 and August 7, the complainant transferred Rs 32,90,128 to different beneficiary accounts provided by the fraudsters. When neither the loan was disbursed nor his money returned, he realised he had been cheated and lodged a complaint on the Cyber Helpline (1930).
The probe
Under the guidance of DCP Dattatray Karale, Police Inspector Kiran Aher of North Cyber, along with API Sanjay Pawar, began the investigation and traced the accused to Delhi and, with the help of technical analysis, caught him last week.
“During the probe, we traced transactions of Rs 19.79 lakh to an Axis Bank account in the name of Vikas Kumar, confirming his involvement. Further technical analysis revealed that he operated multiple mobile numbers, often posing as Dayashankar Mishra while coordinating illicit activities,” said an officer from North Cyber.
Investigation has revealed that the accused is unemployed and married. He came in contact with cyber fraudsters to earn quick money and opened dozens of bank accounts, which were used for fraudulent transactions.
We have traced multiple accounts in different banks under various names. All these accounts have been frozen, and correspondence with the banks concerned is underway to obtain details of the transactions carried out through them. Others are likely involved in the scam,” the officer added.
