NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case in connection with the digital arrest of a 73-year-old retired engineer from Delhi’s Rohini, who was allegedly cheated out of Rs 10 crore.
The Delhi police’s special cell was probing the investigation so far.
A group of cyber-criminals posing as employees of a multinational courier company, in October 2024, allegedly targeted the septuagenarian and cheated him to the tune of Rs 10 crore.
The victim, who lived with his wife in Rohini’s Sector 10, allegedly transferred more than Rs 10.3 crore to the fraudsters.
Based on his complaint, an FIR was filed by the Delhi Police’s cyber cell, before further investigation was taken up by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) wing.
Police had managed to freeze Rs 60 lakh as the money was further distributed in several bank accounts. It is suspected that the cheating was done by callers from abroad, while their associates in India helped them obtain information about the target.
According to the complainant, he received a call regarding a parcel from Taiwan.
The caller told him that the parcel, with his name on it, had been intercepted at the Mumbai airport. The caller further told him that the parcel contained banned drugs and that Mumbai Police Crime Branch officials would talk to him regarding it.
According to the complaint, the victim was told to download Skype for a video call. During the video call, he was kept on digital arrest for at least eight hours, and the accused allegedly forced him to transfer Rs 10.3 crore to separate accounts.
Later, he informed his family members about it.
The victim's family members approached police in the first week of October, and the case under relevant legal provisions was registered.
The victim further told police that the accused had threatened him that his two children -- a son who lives in Dubai and a daughter who lives in Singapore -- would also be targeted.
The case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 10 this year for a detailed probe after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of mounting cases of 'digital arrest' scams across the country.