Told son in London will be ‘held by Interpol’,75yo UP woman loses Rs 2cr in digital arrest

Agra: Using a Hong Kong-based phone number, a six-member cyber fraud gang called a 75-year-old woman in Mathura and allegedly placed her under "digital arrest" for nearly a fortnight after they claimed that her Aadhaar had been hacked and bank accounts were being misused for terrorist activities, and threatened that her son in London would be arrested by Interpol. The gang sought details of her bank accounts and then siphoned off Rs 2 crore.On Thursday, the cyber police team arrested a woman and four men -- one of them belonging to Rajasthan and the rest from Agra -- from UP highway in Mathura district for the crime. The main accused is at large. The victim's husband, a cancer patient, died earlier in Jan, an officer at cyber cell said, adding that her son works at a London firm.SP (crime) Avnish Kumar Mishra said, "A thorough investigation was carried out following her complaint at a cyber police station in Mathura in Dec, and members of the cyber fraud gang were subsequently identified over the next few days."An FIR was registered against them under BNS section 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly) and section 66-D of the IT Act."During questioning, it was found that the arrested woman lived with the other accused and her bank account was often used to avoid suspicion. When the accused's bank accounts were matched with cyber fraud complaints registered on NCR portal, over a dozen complaints were found linked to their accounts. The accused told cops about their involvement in similar cases of ‘digital arrest' for around two years," Mishra added.Police said those arrested have been identified as Ramesh alias Ram Vishnoi, 22, Phalodi district, Rajasthan; Rahul Maglani, 22; Lakshya Agarwal, 20; Puneet Solaki, 29 (all three from Agra). The gang was led by MD Vishnoi, who is currently on the run. Nine mobile phones and SIM cards, nine ATM cards, three PAN, two Aadhaar and 11 bank passbooks were seized from them.