India’s Fake Police Bureau Exposed: Phantom Scam Network Targeted NRIs Abroad

Dark Crime Diaries | Investigative Crime Report | August 2025

It began with phone calls that carried the weight of fear. NRIs living in California, London, Dubai, and even ordinary citizens in Delhi received late-night calls from men who identified themselves as senior officers of the Delhi Police, the CBI, or even Interpol. Their tone was sharp, their knowledge chillingly precise. They recited passport numbers, Aadhaar details, bank account information, even the names of relatives.

The script was always the same: “Your name has surfaced in a narcotics case. Unless you cooperate, you will be arrested, your passport will be revoked, and deportation is imminent.”

For terrified victims, the only way to “prove innocence” was to deposit money into what the callers claimed were government escrow accounts.

We are covering this story not just because it exposes a fraud, but because it reveals how organized crime, politics, and technology are converging to target ordinary citizens and even NRIs and why public vigilance is more crucial than ever.

A Courtroom Made of Smoke and Screens

This was no ordinary scam. Victims were not just threatened on calls. They were summoned into what looked like a functioning courtroom, but it existed only on Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

On screen sat men in black suits against a backdrop of the Ashoka Emblem, the Indian tricolor, and shelves of law books. Titles appeared beneath their names: Supreme Court Judge, Joint Director – CBI, Director of Enforcement Directorate.

The victims were read out “charges,” their passports and IDs flashed on the screen, and even fabricated FIRs were produced in PDF format. In some cases, “cross-examinations” were staged, with multiple impostors acting as prosecutors, judges, and police officials.

To an untrained eye, this looked entirely legitimate. To someone abroad, fearful of deportation, it was nothing short of terrifying.

The Fake Bureau With a Real Name

Behind this elaborate fraud was a fabricated institution: the International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau (IPCIB).

It had everything an authentic agency would an official-looking website, a blue-and-gold emblem, seals stamped with the lion capital, and even QR-coded certificates carrying the words “Registered under Ministry of Home Affairs.” The bureau’s website displayed an ISO certification badge, recruitment ads, and photographs of “training sessions.”

To a casual visitor, IPCIB appeared as a legitimate global policing agency, perhaps something like Interpol. But in reality, it was nothing more than a shell, carefully designed to exploit the authority of India’s law enforcement image.

The Mastermind: Politics Meets Crime

At the center of this operation was Bibhas Chandra Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress politician from West Bengal.

Adhikari had once been active in state politics, but after fading from the limelight, he found a more lucrative pursuit. By legally registering IPCIB in Kolkata as a “private investigative agency,” he gave his scam a layer of legitimacy that was enough to silence initial doubts. His political connections allowed him to operate with a sense of impunity, at least for a time.

Investigators later found that his son handled the technical backbone of the scheme: setting up the websites, manufacturing fake hologram IDs, and coordinating with associates spread across Noida and Dubai.

Stories of the Victims

The human toll of this scam is staggering.

• A doctor in California reportedly lost over ₹20 lakh after being shown a fake Red Corner Notice issued in his name.
• A businessman in London is said to have transferred nearly ₹20 lakh, fearing false ‘money laundering links’ would get him extradited.
• An IT consultant in Dubai was duped into believing his passport was at risk and ended up paying several lakhs into the scammer’s account.
• In Delhi, a young professional preparing for his H-1B visa reportedly paid around ₹7 lakh to escape fabricated ‘deportation proceedings.

The scammers knew just enough to make their threats real. They dropped legal jargon, mentioned IPC sections, and casually referred to genuine government departments. With personal details in hand, they made it impossible for victims to dismiss the threat as fake.

The Crackdown

By mid-2025, the scale of the operation became too big to ignore. In July, the Noida Cyber Police and the Uttar Pradesh STF raided a plush office in Sector-62.

Inside, they found evidence of a parallel justice system:

• Dozens of smartphones with pre-written threat scripts.
• Hard drives containing hundreds of recorded “fake hearings.”
• More than 500 forged rubber stamps, seals, and holograms.
• A recruitment list for potential “officers” of IPCIB.

The financial trail pointed to hawala networks in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Dubai. Over ₹100 crore is believed to have been siphoned off, though investigators suspect the real figure could be much higher, given how many victims abroad never reported their losses.

Adhikari and eight associates were arrested.

Why This Scam Was Different

Ordinary fraudsters pretend to be police officers or bank managers. This operation, however, built an entire parallel state.

It created its own police bureau, its own courts, its own judges, and even its own digital bureaucracy. It blurred the line between scam and governance, making citizens question whether they were dealing with fraud or with the government itself.

Cybercrime experts warn that this is just a glimpse of what could happen in the age of AI-driven deepfakes. Tomorrow, fake judges and police officers could appear in hyper-realistic video calls, making scams even harder to detect.

The Bigger Picture

This case is more than just a crime story. It exposes:

• A crisis of trust in government communication.
• The vulnerability of NRIs, who fear deportation and legal trouble more than anything else.
• The rot of politics, where a former politician turned fraudster used his influence to build a global scam empire.

As one cyber expert told investigators, “This was democracy theatre, a staged courtroom designed to exploit the fear of law.”

Conclusion

The Phantom Bureau may have been dismantled, but its shadow lingers. For every victim who came forward, there may be dozens still silenced by shame and fear.

The biggest lesson: No real police, court, or government agency will ever demand money transfers over a call.

In an age of scams wrapped in official symbols, trust must always be verified.

Sources

• TOI – Former neta ran fake police bureau, duped NRIs
• Economic Times – In a world of maya, IPCIB can be real