A prominent private university in Pune was cheated of Rs 2.46 crore by an online fraudster posing as a professor from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Pune City cyber police have arrested a 34-year-old electronics and telecommunications engineer, identified as Seetaiah Kilaru, who holds a PhD from a UK university. He has previously been booked in multiple cases of online fraud and impersonation.
The case came to light after the university’s chief education officer filed an FIR on September 6. Between July 25 and August 26, cybercriminals tricked the university administration into transferring large sums of money to several mule accounts. The fraudsters claimed the payments were fees for participating in government-funded research projects, including joint initiatives with the Defence Research and Development Organisation on artificial intelligence and drones.
Following a detailed investigation using mobile numbers, emails, and bank accounts, the police tracked Kilaru to Yapral in Hyderabad. He was arrested on September 21 and later brought to Pune on transit remand. A court has remanded him in police custody until September 28. Police seized from him 10 debit cards, 13 bank passbooks, 15 cheque books, gold purchase receipts, phones, laptops, and two cars, all suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Investigations revealed that Kilaru studied in the UK for over four years and completed his PhD. He has briefly worked at the University of Hyderabad, cleared the preliminary and mains examinations of the UPSC twice, and also taught at a UPSC training academy. Police records show he has faced arrest in similar fraud and impersonation cases since 2023.
In this case, the complainant first received a message from a person posing as a well-known educationist, who then connected him to someone claiming to be an IIT professor. The fraudster said a Defence research project worth Rs 28 crore had been sanctioned and asked for an initial fee of Rs 56 lakh. Over the next three weeks, two more fake projects worth Rs 23 crore and Rs 72 crore were presented, with the university transferring Rs 46 lakh and Rs 1.44 crore respectively.
By late August, the fraudster stopped responding. When the university directly contacted IIT Bombay, it was confirmed that no such projects existed. Realising the fraud, the university approached cyber police and lodged a complaint.
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