Ex-bank manager, his family lose Rs 67 lakh in 'digital arrest'

Bhopal, Nov 20 (PTI) A retired bank manager and his family from Bhopal lost more than Rs 67 lakh after fraudsters, posing as police personnel, threatened to arrest him in a terror and financial fraud case and kept the family under "digital arrest" for two days, officials said on Thursday.

The crime unfolded between November 17 and 19, they said.

Snehlata Deshmukh, a resident of Shiva Royal Court in Bawadia Kalan in Bhopal, lodged a complaint in this regard.

In the complaint, she said that she lives with her 67-year-old husband, Dayaram Deshmukh, retired manager of a Bank of India branch, and their son Piyush.

"As per the complaint, a man identifying himself as 'Ranjeet Kumar', a police officer, called her husband on his mobile phone on November 17. When she received the call, the caller told her that her husband was involved in terrorist activities and cited a case number," the police said in a statement.

"The caller claimed that a terrorist named Ali Fauji had embezzled Rs 7 crore, of which Rs 70 lakh had allegedly entered her husband's bank account, and that an arrest warrant had been issued against him. The woman said the caller threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter to anyone," it added.

The caller also demanded Aadhaar details, bank account information and fixed-deposit details of all family members, which she shared out of fear. She informed her son about the matter, the police said.

He also told her that the family could save her husband from arrest only by transferring money into the accounts provided by him, assuring her that the amount would be returned the next day. He instructed her to liquidate the fixed deposits and transfer the money.

Believing him to be a policeman, the victim broke the FD savings of Rs 68.26 lakh on Monday and transferred Rs 67,50,000 into the accounts provided by the fraudsters on Tuesday. The woman realised that it was a fraud only after the caller demanded more money, the police said.

After that, she contacted the cyber crime helpline 1930 and lodged a complaint.

Amount of Rs 5.17 lakh could be put on hold from the defrauded amount, while the remaining money had already been withdrawn by the scammers, the police said. PTI LAL NP