A 32-year-old resident of Delhi was allegedly duped of Rs 9.67 lakh by fraudsters who posed as government officials and placed him under “digital arrest”, coercing him into transferring money on the pretext of a “probe related to terrorism financing”, police said.
A case has been registered at Karol Bagh police station under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita based on a complaint by the victim.
According to the complaint, registered on October 14, the victim received four calls from unknown numbers on August 13.
“The callers falsely accused me of being involved in the Pulwama attack in Kashmir and alleged that an amount of Rs 50 lakhs has been credited to a bank account opened in my name in Kashmir. They further claimed that the account was linked to my ID and mobile number and warned me to maintain secrecy, stating that some influential persons were also involved in it. Further, the callers instructed me to switch on my camera, lock my room and not inform any family member,” wrote the victim in his complaint.
The accused allegedly asked him questions about his bank accounts and other financial details before connecting him to another person who impersonated the Chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad. They also allegedly asked him to travel to Lucknow for questioning and later demanded that he transfer money to an account linked to the Reserve Bank of India for “fund legalisation”.
Fearing repercussions, the victim said he transferred Rs 8.9 lakh from one account and another Rs 77,000 from another.
The fraudsters later demanded Rs 4 lakh as “bail application charges” and when he refused, they disconnected the call and switched off their phones, he said. According to the victim, when he eventually realised that he had been duped, he suffered severe mental distress.
Story continues below this ad
Efforts are underway to trace the accused and recover the money, a senior police officer said.
