Elderly Aligarh couple duped of Rs 42 lakh in ‘digital arrest’

Agra: A retired district agriculture officer and his wife in Aligarh were duped of their entire life savings of Rs 42 lakh in a ‘digital arrest' cyber fraud, in which scammers posing as telecom and police officers kept the elderly couple under sustained psychological pressure and forced them to transfer money.The incident occurred on Jan 28, an FIR was filed on Feb 4, and it came into the public domain on Tuesday. Nathhi Lal Sharma (70) and his wife (65) were targeted days after Aligarh police busted an international cybercrime racket.As per Sharma's police complaint, he received the first call on Jan 10. The fraudsters contacted him through phone and video calls, posing as officials from the Delhi telecom department and police. They falsely claimed that a money-laundering case had been registered against him and that Rs 70 lakh had been deposited in his account.Sharma said the callers, who introduced themselves as Sunil Kumar Gautam and Rajesh Pradhan, extracted details of his fixed deposits and savings accounts and warned him not to share the matter with anyone, threatening imprisonment. He was instructed to give a missed call every hour from Gautam's number and remain available for video calls every morning and evening.On Jan 28, Gautam connected Sharma via video call to a man identifying himself as CBI team leader Pradeep Singh, who claimed the involvement of RBI and court teams. Under intense pressure, Sharma transferred Rs 14 lakh from his Central Bank account in Naurangabad via RTGS, followed by another Rs 28 lakh.Speaking to TOI, Sharma said he was kept "captive" on the phone for nearly four hours initially and was continuously threatened for 18 days. "On Feb 4, under extreme pressure, I transferred Rs 42 lakh, my entire life savings, from my two bank accounts," he said.Following Sharma's complaint, a case was registered at the cyber police station under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the BNS and relevant provisions of the IT Act.Mahesh Kumar Tyagi, in-charge of the Aligarh cyber police station, said, "We are getting details of the bank account to which the money was transferred so that we can trace the accused. Further investigation is on, and action will be taken accordingly."Sharma, who has four children, retired from service in 2016.