India, Dec. 21 -- Posing as senior Mumbai police officers, cyber fraudsters allegedly ran an elaborate extortion racket and cheated a 39-year-old gas agency owner from Malad of Rs.99 lakh, pushing him to the brink of suicide, police said. After his wife reported him missing on December 15, the police finally traced the victim to the Dahanu railway station in Palghar and found him on Friday. He had left home wanting to end his life believing he would soon be arrested.

According to the police, the fraud began in September when the victim, Yogesh (name changed), lent around Rs.10,500 to an acquaintance, Niraj (name changed) who organised the Ganpati pandal in the neighbourhood. Soon after, Yogesh received a call from a fraudster claiming to...