Mumbai: A 37-year-old man has been arrested from Pune for allegedly duping a health consultant from Dadar East of Rs 5.87 crore in drugs in parcel scam. The accused, Vijay Gautam Ghodke, a resident of Undri, used to be a sand dealer, but is currently unemployed.

According to the complainant, 47, she received a call from an unknown individual, who claimed to be a representative of FedEx Express Courier.

The caller falsely claimed that her parcel, destined for Iran, containing MD drugs, had been intercepted by the Customs. Impersonating as cops, the fraudsters also spoke to her via video calls, effectively keeping her under virtual house arrest. With the threat of legal consequences, the con kept fleecing the complainant, who transferred the whopping amount in nine transactions between March 30 and April 4.

During the probe, the crime branch's central cyber police traced Ghodke with the help of a technical investigation. The police said that Rs1.25 crore of the defrauded amount had been transferred to his account.