Two booked in Bhandara over forged documents; man loses Rs 4,55,200 in digital arrest fraud
Bhandara police have registered two separate fraud cases, one over forged records submitted to the Public Trusts Registration Office and one over a digital arrest scam.
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Two separate cases of fraud have come to light in Bhandara. In one, false and fabricated documents were allegedly submitted to the Public Trusts Registration Office to mislead it. In the other, cyber fraudsters extorted money from a man by threatening him with a "digital arrest".
In the first case, Bhandara police have booked two people for fraud. The accused have been named as Shailesh Krishna Khobragade and Rajendra Narayan Nagdeve. Khobragade, 46, lives in Lakhandur. Nagdeve, 63, lives in Tulsinagar on Khat Road in Bhandara.
The case relates to a matter involving a trust called the Maharashtra Rural Education Society. After an order of approval from the Assistant Charity Commissioner, the disputed document was examined. The examination found that the seal on the document did not match the genuine seal of the inward-outward section of the charity office. The signature on the document also did not match the genuine signature of the inward-outward clerk, Tulsa Ganpat Dodke. The report was submitted to the superintendent.
The second case concerns fraud committed in the name of a digital arrest. The cyber fraudsters contacted the complainant on a mobile phone and made them believe they were under house arrest. A false threat of money laundering charges was also made. A man was cheated of Rs 4,55,200 in this way. A case has been registered at the Bhandara cyber police station.
It has been stated that between August 22 and August 24, 2026, the accused spoke to the complainant from different mobile numbers. The complainant was told that a money laundering case was registered against them. Fake arrest papers were then sent over WhatsApp, and this was used to win their trust. They were then forced to deposit Rs 4,55,200 by RTGS into a bank account given by the accused. The investigation also found that a fake receipt had been created.
The case was registered on the report of Moreshwar Raghunath Matre, 54, an inspector at the Public Trusts Registration Office.
To avoid such frauds, people have been advised not to send money if someone on a phone or video call claims to be police and asks for it. They should not blindly trust arrest papers or WhatsApp messages. Any suspected cyber fraud can be reported on the 1930 helpline or on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.
