Retired railway employee put under ‘digital arrest’, duped of Rs 30 lakh; one apprehended
The Delhi Police has apprehended one person in connection with the ‘digital arrest’ of a retired railway employee who was allegedly duped of Rs 30 lakh by cybercriminals impersonating NIA and RBI officials, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Sunil Singla, a resident of Fatehabad in Haryana, was arrested on May 11.
According to police, the complainant, a retired Indian Railways employee residing in Dwarka, was contacted via phone calls and video conferencing by persons posing as officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The accused allegedly implicated the complainant in terror funding and money laundering in connection with the Red Fort blast case and threatened to arrest him.
The accused allegedly showed forged documents, including manufactured notices and bonds, to instil fear and further the psychological coercion. The victim was allegedly directed to disclose details of his bank accounts and assets and transfer money for verification, police said.
A total of Rs 30 lakh was transferred through RTGS into bank accounts controlled by the syndicate.
“During investigation, the police team found that Rs 15 lakh was transferred into an account in the name of M/s Shri Balaji Tractor, operated by Singla,” a senior police officer said.
Analysis of banking records, KYC details, digital evidence and transaction trails revealed that the account had suspicious high-value transactions and was linked to at least seven other cyber fraud cases registered across states, police said.
The syndicate allegedly isolated victims through continuous video calls, threatened them with arrest and compelled them to liquidate their funds before routing the money through mule accounts and shell accounts.
Singla had been previously arrested in a similar cyber fraud case registered by the IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) unit of Delhi Police’s Special Cell, the officer said.
Police said Rs 12 lakh of the cheated amount has been recovered so far or refunded to the complainant.
