Elderly Sisters Cheated of ₹67 Lakh in Share Market Scam; One Arrested

The Cyber Cell of the South Region Police has arrested a man named Mohit Akash Bhojraj in a major cyber fraud case where two elderly sisters were cheated of nearly ₹67 lakh in the name of share market investments.

The complainant, a 67-year-old woman from Girgaon, said she and her sister joined a WhatsApp group related to share market investments in January 2025. The group was managed by a woman named Shruti Baheti, who regularly shared messages showing fake profits to win the trust of group members.

On January 21, Shruti personally messaged one of the sisters and convinced her to invest in a special “block share deal,” promising high returns. After receiving some early profits, both sisters invested a total of ₹67,15,174.

Later, they were shown a fake portfolio showing profits worth ₹1.88 crore. But when they tried to withdraw ₹50 lakh, the transaction failed. Shruti then claimed they needed to pay tax before the money could be released. That’s when the sisters realized they had been scammed.

They filed a complaint with the South Region Cyber Police, who began an investigation. The police found that Mohit Bhojraj was in contact with a well-known cyber fraudster named Salid Mohammad Shaikh. Mohit had provided Shaikh with details of 19 bank accounts used to transfer the stolen money.

Out of the total amount, ₹16 lakh was deposited into the account of a company named Kalyani Enterprises, owned by Hemant Mali, who is in the agriculture business. Mohit is accused of misusing this account for the fraud.

Mohit Bhojraj, a resident of Bhimnagar in Dahisar, was arrested. Meanwhile, Salid Mohammad Shaikh, believed to be the mastermind and a resident of Mangaluru, Karnataka, is still on the run. Police are continuing the investigation.