Panchkula elderly woman loses Rs 2.98 cr in digital arrest scam
One accused held from Delhi in a raid by Panchkula police
Cybercriminals digitally arrested an elderly woman through a fake CBI officer, a fake courtroom, and threatened her with money laundering in a fraudulent scheme to defraud her of Rs 2.98 crore. The Panchkula Cybercrime Police Station arrested one suspect in Delhi in this connection, while search for the other suspects is in progress.
Complainant, a resident of Panchkula, told the police that on December 4, she received a call in which the caller identified himself as an employee of a telecom company and informed her of a service outage. The call was then connected to a supposed senior official and then to a person claiming to be a CBI officer. The accused falsely accused the woman of being involved in money laundering worth crores of rupees through the bank. To gain her confidence, the accused also sent her photographs showing a person being arrested.
The accused, taking advantage of the woman’s advanced age, threatened her with “house arrest”, saying that a police vehicle was parked outside her home and she could not leave without permission. During this, the accused obtained information about all her bank accounts and threatened to harm her children if she told anyone about the incident.
On December 5, the accused presented the woman via video call in a simulated courtroom, where fake policemen and a fake judge were present. Under the guise of an investigation, the accused tricked her into transferring a total of Rs 2.98cr to various accounts. Later, when the accused demanded more money, the woman suspected cyber fraud and immediately called the helpline number 1930 to lodge a complaint.
DCP (Crime and Traffic) Manpreet Singh Sudan said based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Cybercrime Police Station, Panchkula, on December 14 under sections 316(2), 318(4), 319(2), 338, 336(3), 340(2), and 61(2) of the BNS.
Cybercrime Police Station SHO Yudhvir Singh said the first accused, Nitin Singhal, a resident of East Delhi, was arrested in a raid from Delhi on January 15. The accused’s bank account had fraudulent funds totalling Rs 17 lakh (approximately), the SHO said. The accused was produced in a court today which sent him to six-day police remand, the SHO said.
The SHO further stated that the names of other accused had also surfaced in this case, and raids were on to arrest them. He urged the public to remain cautious of any unknown calls, calls from individuals claiming to be government officials, or threats such as digital arrests, and to immediately contact the cyber helpline number 1930 or the nearest police station in such situations.
