IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Mohammad Mohsin Siddiqui ...Petitioner Versus State of Haryana ...Respondent Sr. No. Particulars Details 1 The date when the judgment is reserved 25.03.2026 2 The date when the judgment is pronounced 30.03.2026 3 The date when the judgment is uploaded on the website 30.03.2026 Whether only operative part of the judgment is pronounced or full

4 Full judgment is pronounced The delay, if any, of the pronouncement of full judgment, and Not

5 reasons thereof applicable CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MANISHA BATRA Present:- Mr. A. P. S. Sandhu, Advocate, Mr. Ashish Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Ritish Jindal, Advocate and Mr. Arjun Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner.

Ms. Himani Arora, DAG, Haryana.

MANISHA BATRA, J.

1. Prayer in this petition, filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, is for grant of regular bail the petitioner in case arising out of FIR No. 264 dated 17.12.2024, registered under Sections 308(2), 318(2), 318(4), 336(2), 336(3), 351(4) and 61(2) of BNS, 2023 [Sections 238(a) and 241 of BNS added later on] at Police Station Cyber Crime, Panipat.

2. Brief facts of the case relevant for the purpose of disposal of this petition are that the aforementioned FIR was registered on the basis of a written complaint submitted by complainant Mukesh Kumar Garg alleging that he received a phone call on 07.12.2024 at about 12:15 PM from mobile number 87094115474, wherein the caller falsely represented himself as an official from the Reserve Bank of India and informed that a credit card had been fraudulently issued in the name of the complainant using his documents, allegedly involving a fraud of Rs. 2 crores. On 08.12.2024 at about 10:09 PM, the complainant received a WhatsApp video call from mobile number 918543982626, wherein the caller impersonated as an officer of the Mumbai Police and claimed that the complainant was under “digital arrest” in connection with the said alleged fraud. The complainant was kept under continuous video surveillance for approximately 11 hours and 37 minutes. During this period, the accused persons threatened the complainant with dire consequences, including threats to his life and that of his family and demanded Rs.1 crore for avoiding arrest. They further sent a forged document bearing the National Emblem and purporting to be issued by the Mumbai Police to lend authenticity to their threats. Acting under fear and coercion, the complainant transferred a total sum of Rs.1,00,00,000/- (one crore rupees) in the following manner:

 Rs.65,00,000/- on 08.12.2024 via RTGS from his Indian Bank account to DBS Bank account No.

8858210000006514;

 Rs.23,00,000/- on 12.12.2024 via RTGS from his PNB

account to IndusInd Bank account No. 259601615856;

 Rs.12,00,000/- on 16.12.2024 via RTGS to ICICI Bank

account No. 186905001629.

3. As per the further allegations, during the period from

07.12.2024 to 16.12.2024, the complainant continued to receive WhatsApp video calls from numbers 918543982626 and 919057758801. The callers also impersonated officials of the Enforcement Directorate and repeatedly threatened arrest unless the demanded amounts were paid. The complainant later, upon consulting acquaintances, realized that he had been deceived and defrauded by unknown persons impersonating government officials. He reported the incident to the cyber helpline (1930) and registered an online complaint bearing No. 31312240068089. After registration of the FIR, investigation proceedings were initiated.

4. During the course of investigation, the relevant records of the bank account of the complainant and aforementioned three bank accounts were analyzed. The aforesaid bank account opened in DBS Bank was found to be opened in the name of one Mohit Kumar, who was joined into investigation. He disclosed that one Tipu Sultan, Bank Relation Manager of DBS Bank, Gurugram, had used his bank account for cyber fraud without his knowledge and by forging his signat