Two held for ‘digital arrest’ fraud with 83-year-old in Panchkula

The police have arrested two persons, who impersonated police officers from Hyderabad, and allegedly defrauded an elderly man of Rs 57.90 lakh under the pretext of “digital arrest”.

The suspects were identified as Manish and Amit, both from Dadholi village in Hisar.

According to the police, the complainant, Rajendra (83) of Sector 16, who retired from HMT, had received a WhatsApp call on January 16 from a man claiming to be a Hyderabad-based police official. The caller falsely alleged that Rajendra was involved in a money-laundering case and would have to reach Hyderabad within two hours. When he said he couldn’t travel, the fraudsters linked his Aadhaar card to another suspect named “Goyal”, who was accused of fleeing abroad, and declared Rajendra “digitally arrested”.

Several similar cases targeting elderly retired citizens came to light in the tricity this year wherein the name of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal has been used by fraudsters to sound authentic as Goyal’s fraud-linked money-laundering case is heavily reported online.

Through fear and deception, the fraudsters kept the elderly victim under psychological pressure for three days via continuous video surveillance, warning him not to speak to anyone. During this period, they siphoned off over Rs 57 lakh from his bank accounts.

An FIR was registered on July 21 under Sections 316(2), 318(4), and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Following an investigation by SI Saurabh Singh, the two suspects were arrested on Tuesday.