by Ajay Kumar
Lucknow: Varanasi. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, a 67-year-old woman, Neena Kaur, was defrauded of over Rs 32 lakh by cyber criminals through a scheme involving digital arrest. The scammers tricked her while pretending to be law enforcement officials. They contacted her via WhatsApp and sent messages about an arrest warrant.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime police station regarding this incident. Neena Kaur reported to the police that she received a WhatsApp video call on the afternoon of October 15. The caller, wearing a police uniform, identified himself as an officer named Sunil Kumar from the Andheri police station in Mumbai. He claimed that an illegal parcel in her name containing drugs, fake passports, and ATM cards was being sent to Singapore and that the country’s security agencies had seized it. Her name had come up during the investigation, and a case had been registered against her.
He then sent an arrest warrant and ordered her to reach Mumbai within two days to avoid arrest. Subsequently, she was instructed to speak with a person posing as CBI officer Anil Yadav, who warned her that she could be in danger if she informed anyone about the situation. To avoid arrest, she was asked to provide details about her assets. Neena informed him about her flat, car, and Rs 32 lakh 40 thousand in the Hotel D. Paris branch of the State Bank of India.
The impersonator, posing as the CBI officer, instructed her to transfer the money from her bank accounts to one he specified for “investigation purposes” to prevent her arrest. Fearing for her safety, Neena went to her bank and transferred Rs 32 lakh 40 thousand via RTGS to the accounts he provided. Shortly after, she received a message stating that the transaction had failed.
The cybercriminals, pretending to be police officers, then called her back, intimidating her and instructing her to send money to a different bank account. Following their directions, Neena went to the bank again and transferred the money. The callers assured her that the funds would be returned within 24 hours. However, when the money did not return, she informed her son in Nagpur and filed a report at the police station.
