Faridabad: Elderly man put under 'digital arrest' for 5 days, duped of Rs 81 lakh

Faridabad, Oct 22 (PTI) Cyber thugs posing as enforcement officials duped a 68-year-old man in Faridabad's Ballabgarh of Rs 81 lakh by placing him under "digital arrest for five days, police said on Wednesday.

According to a complaint filed by Vishnupad Chatterjee, a resident of Sector 7D, the fraudsters accused him of being involved in illegal activities like money laundering and human trafficking and duped him by digitally arresting him.

Giving details of the five-day-long digital arrest, he claimed that at 2.29 pm on October 14 he received a call where the caller, posing as police and CBI officials, informed that he was booked in a case after he was found involved in some illegal activities, the police said.

"They claimed that a case had been filed against me and I was being digitally arrested. They kept me on video calls for five days, threatening and forcing me to make payments. A transaction of Rs 51 lakh was made on October 16, while another payment of Rs 30 lakh was transferred via RTGS on October 17," Chatterjee alleged in his complaint.

According to the complainant, the calls from this number continued from 3:50 pm on October 14 to October 16.

Then, from October 16 October 18, WhatsApp voice and video calls came from the third number. On the morning of October 19, a message was also received on WhatsApp from the fourth number, he added.

"After this I filed a complaint with the cybercrime helpline on October 19," Chatterjee said in his complaint.

After receiving a complaint, an FIR was registered at Ballabgarh police station, a spokesperson of the Faridabad police said, adding that a probe is underway and the accused will be arrested soon. PTI COR NB NB