New Town senior citizen loses 90 lakh in digi-arrest fraud

Kolkata: A 70-year-old resident of SP Sukhobristi in New Town was allegedly cheated of Rs 89.8 lakh in a digital-arrest fraud in which the accused used a forged Supreme Court order, linked the victim to an infamous nationwide money laundering case, and even conducted a virtual trial to intimidate him into transferring money.According to the complaint, the man received a phone call around 2 pm on Nov 27 last year from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as "Arun Kumar Gupta", claiming to be a telecom department official, and alleged that the victim's mobile number was misused using Aadhaar details to obtain another SIM card. The caller further claimed that the number was used in a crime against woman case.
Soon after, the man received another call from a different number, this time from a different mobile service operator. The caller allegedly introduced himself as a senior cop named "Sandip Rao, IPS", and continued the narrative that the victim was under investigation.Later that evening, a third call came from a third number, during which the caller claimed the victim's name was linked to a money laundering case involving a person identified as "Naresh Goyel", and that a warrant of arrest was issued by the Supreme Court, the complaint said. According to police sources, the fraudsters alleged that Goyal, the owner of now-defunct Jet Airways, implicated the victim, claiming that he or she used the "account under investigation and linked to Goyal".In a departure from the more common pattern of such scams, the fraudsters allegedly escalated the pressure by staging what the complainant described as a "virtual hearing". During the online interaction, the accused purportedly presented a forged Supreme Court order and conducted a mock trial, after which they declared that the victim was "digitally arrested", the complaint said.Police said the fraudsters then kept the man under continuous surveillance through calls and online communication, using fear and intimidation to prevent him from contacting anyone. He was coerced into disclosing bank account details and other financial information, and was instructed to transfer funds to accounts provided by the accused.The bank account details were allegedly shared through WhatsApp from a fourth number, the complaint stated. Acting under the instructions, the man transferred Rs 87.8 lakh from his public sector bank account and another Rs 2 lakh from his private account.The complainant later realised he was cheated when the callers stopped responding. He then filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and subsequently approached the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime police station, where a case was registered on Jan 23.