Bhopal Lawyer dies by suicide on threats to implicate him Pahalgam terror attack: Read how cyber criminals are using Islamic terrorism to defraud people
In what appears to be a new modus operandi to defraud innocent people, cyber criminals are now targeting their victims by threatening to implicate them in the Pahalgam terror attack. In a recent case of cyber fraud, a 68-year-old lawyer committed suicide in Bhopal after cyber criminals threatened to implicate him in the Pahalgam terror attack. The victim Shivkumar Verma, from Jahangirabad’s Barkhedi area, hanged himself on Tuesday (25th November). He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead. Verma was alone at his home when the incident occurred. His wife was in Delhi, visiting their married daughter, and their was in Pune, where he works. Verma’s body was found hanging by his tenant, who was asked to check on him by his wife, who had been trying to call him, but he did not respond. As per reports, the Police found a note written by Verma in which he wrote that he was ending his life after being blackmailed that his name would be linked to the Pahalgam terror attack. He mentioned in the note that a bank account was opened in his name, which was cited in the Pahalgam terror attack chargesheet. Verma also wrote about his experience as a volunteer during the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra said that the deceased did not file a complaint. “Someone called him and told him that his bank account had been used for suspicious activities, due to which he apparently got scared and took the extreme step of suicide,” Mishra said. “We keep saying this repeatedly in such cases: immediately inform the police. Fraudsters involved in digital cheating try to make the victim feel that they have committed some grave mistake. The police are carrying out further legal action in this matter,” he added. Pune women duped of ₹ 51,2000 through cyber fraud In a similar incident, a 57-year-old woman from Pune was duped of ₹51 lakh by cyber fraudsters, who posed as National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sadanand Date and threatened her with arrest for “sharing photos of weapons used in the Pahalgam terror attack”. According to the FIR filed on 1st November, the woman, a resident of Kothrud, received a video call on 25th September, from a man who introduced himself as the ATS Chief Gaurav Grover. He told her that she was being investigated for sharing photos of weapons used in the Pahalgam terror attack. When she denied the accusation, the person sent her seven fake documents, including a “confidentiality agreement”, an “arrest warrant”, an “asset seizure order” and a “magistrate order”. He then connected her to the person who identified himself as NIA chief Sadanand Date and told her that her name was involved in a money laundering case. Thereafter, the fraudsters coaxed her to reveal all the information about her bank accounts, savings, gold and other property. The woman was then coerced into transferring an amount of ₹ 51,2000 to various bank accounts, in the name of “fund legalisation through the RBI”. The fraudsters told her that the money would be returned to her bank account, which never happened. The FIR, accessed by Opindia, was registered under Sections 66(D) and 66(C) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and multiple Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 3(5), 319(2), 318(4), and 308(2). ₹ 1.44 crore extorted from 70-year-old chartered accountant In a different case of cyber fraud in Kothrud, Pune, a 70-year-old chartered accountant was put under digital arrest by cyber criminals, who extorted from him a whopping amount of over ₹ 1.44 crore between 23rd September and 8th October. In a similar pattern, the fraudsters told the victim that his name was linked to the Pahalgam terror attack and that three bank accounts opened in his name were used to transfer funds to terror outfits. According to the FIR, the chartered accountant received a call on WhatsApp from a person who introduced himself as “Senior Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh” from the office of the Police Commissioner, Mumbai. The person then connected him to several other persons, who introduced themselves as different police officials, including “NIA Chief Milind Bahamade”. The fraudsters told the chartered accountant that to remove his name from the list of suspects, he needed to obtain a non-involvement certificate (NIC), which would be issued only after conducting a “forensic audit” of all his bank accounts. In the name of a forensic audit, the victim was asked to transfer all the money in his and his wife’s bank accounts, which amounted to ₹ 1, 44, 60000 to different bank accounts. By the time he realised that it was a cyber fraud, it was too late. The FIR, accessed by OpIndia, was filed at the Pune City Cyber Police Station on 17 October 2025 under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 204, 319(2), 318(4), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. 63-year-old Mumbai resident duped of ₹ 20, 40000 Similarly, a 63
In what appears to be a new modus operandi to defraud innocent people, cyber criminals are now targeting their victims by threatening to implicate them in the Pahalgam terror attack. In a recent case of cyber fraud, a 68-year-old lawyer committed suicide in Bhopal after cyber criminals threatened to implicate him in the Pahalgam terror attack. The victim Shivkumar Verma, from Jahangirabad’s Barkhedi area, hanged himself on Tuesday (25th November). He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
Verma was alone at his home when the incident occurred. His wife was in Delhi, visiting their married daughter, and their was in Pune, where he works. Verma’s body was found hanging by his tenant, who was asked to check on him by his wife, who had been trying to call him, but he did not respond. As per reports, the Police found a note written by Verma in which he wrote that he was ending his life after being blackmailed that his name would be linked to the Pahalgam terror attack. He mentioned in the note that a bank account was opened in his name, which was cited in the Pahalgam terror attack chargesheet. Verma also wrote about his experience as a volunteer during the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra said that the deceased did not file a complaint. “Someone called him and told him that his bank account had been used for suspicious activities, due to which he apparently got scared and took the extreme step of suicide,” Mishra said. “We keep saying this repeatedly in such cases: immediately inform the police. Fraudsters involved in digital cheating try to make the victim feel that they have committed some grave mistake. The police are carrying out further legal action in this matter,” he added.
Pune women duped of ₹ 51,2000 through cyber fraud
In a similar incident, a 57-year-old woman from Pune was duped of ₹51 lakh by cyber fraudsters, who posed as National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sadanand Date and threatened her with arrest for “sharing photos of weapons used in the Pahalgam terror attack”. According to the FIR filed on 1st November, the woman, a resident of Kothrud, received a video call on 25th September, from a man who introduced himself as the ATS Chief Gaurav Grover. He told her that she was being investigated for sharing photos of weapons used in the Pahalgam terror attack. When she denied the accusation, the person sent her seven fake documents, including a “confidentiality agreement”, an “arrest warrant”, an “asset seizure order” and a “magistrate order”. He then connected her to the person who identified himself as NIA chief Sadanand Date and told her that her name was involved in a money laundering case.
Thereafter, the fraudsters coaxed her to reveal all the information about her bank accounts, savings, gold and other property. The woman was then coerced into transferring an amount of ₹ 51,2000 to various bank accounts, in the name of “fund legalisation through the RBI”. The fraudsters told her that the money would be returned to her bank account, which never happened. The FIR, accessed by Opindia, was registered under Sections 66(D) and 66(C) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and multiple Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 3(5), 319(2), 318(4), and 308(2).
₹ 1.44 crore extorted from 70-year-old chartered accountant
In a different case of cyber fraud in Kothrud, Pune, a 70-year-old chartered accountant was put under digital arrest by cyber criminals, who extorted from him a whopping amount of over ₹ 1.44 crore between 23rd September and 8th October. In a similar pattern, the fraudsters told the victim that his name was linked to the Pahalgam terror attack and that three bank accounts opened in his name were used to transfer funds to terror outfits. According to the FIR, the chartered accountant received a call on WhatsApp from a person who introduced himself as “Senior Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh” from the office of the Police Commissioner, Mumbai. The person then connected him to several other persons, who introduced themselves as different police officials, including “NIA Chief Milind Bahamade”.
The fraudsters told the chartered accountant that to remove his name from the list of suspects, he needed to obtain a non-involvement certificate (NIC), which would be issued only after conducting a “forensic audit” of all his bank accounts. In the name of a forensic audit, the victim was asked to transfer all the money in his and his wife’s bank accounts, which amounted to ₹ 1, 44, 60000 to different bank accounts. By the time he realised that it was a cyber fraud, it was too late. The FIR, accessed by OpIndia, was filed at the Pune City Cyber Police Station on 17 October 2025 under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 204, 319(2), 318(4), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
63-year-old Mumbai resident duped of ₹ 20, 40000
Similarly, a 63-year-old man from Mumbai fell victim to cyber fraud and ended up losing ₹ 20, 40000 between 18th August and 25th September. The victim was also threatened with the allegations of his being linked to the Pahalgam terror attack and some bank accounts registered in his name being involved in money laundering. The cyber criminal threatened the victim that he, along with his entire family, would be arrested if he did not cooperate. In a similar modus operandi, the fraudsters introduced themselves as different police personnel and asked him to transfer all the money in his bank accounts to various bank accounts in the name of a “security procedure”.
The FIR, accessed by OpIndia, was filed on 29th September 2025 under Sections 66(D) and 66(C) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 61(2), 340(2), 338, 336(3), 336(2), 319(2), 318(4), 205, and 204 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
76-year-old Noida woman lost ₹43.70 lakh to cyber criminals
In yet another case of cyber fraud, a 76-year-old woman living in Sector 41 of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, lost ₹43.70 lakh to cyber criminals who put her under digital arrest for 26 days. The woman, a retired corporate employee, received a phone call on 18th July, in which she was told that her name had been linked to the Pahalgam terror attack. The person on the call told her that a mobile phone number, registered in her name in Mumbai, Byculla, was being used for illegal activities such as gambling and blackmailing, police said. She was then connected on a call to a person impersonating a Mumbai Crime Branch officer. He told her that four bank accounts in Mumbai in her name were used in Hawala, drug trafficking, online gambling, and funding to terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack. She was asked to transfer money in the name of “security deposit” which was promised to be returned after investigation. She ended up transferring ₹43.70 lakh to different bank accounts. An FIR was filed under relevant Sections for cheating, cheating by personation, and extortion of the BNS and the IT Act.
Several such cases of people being out under digital arrest and being forced to pay huge amounts of money have come to light recently.
What is digital arrest?
‘Digital arrest’ is a method used by cybercriminals to confine victims to their houses to defraud them. The perpetrators create fear in the minds of internet users by making audio or video calls, often impersonating law enforcement agents with AI-generated voices or visual technology. In most situations, the fraud starts with an apparently innocent phone call from a claimed courier firm, cellphone provider, telecom department, or bank. These calls can be either live or automated, urging the recipient to enter a number for more information. Once connected, the victim chats with someone professing to be a support agent, and the misery begins.
The fraudsters often have some personal information about the victim, such as Aadhaar (or the last four digits), PAN, or bank details. Using this information, they convince the victim that their Aadhaar, PAN, mobile number, or bank account has been linked to alleged illegal activities. The victim is then connected to individuals impersonating law enforcement officers from agencies like the police, customs, ED, or CBI, who conduct a fake interrogation over video conferencing and issue a bogus arrest warrant via call or WhatsApp.
