NEW DELHI: A group of cyber criminals, with one of them posing as a senior Uttar Pradesh Police officer, allegedly held a Delhi businessman “digitally hostage” over a video call for couple hours, ultimately cheating him out of nearly Rs 31 lakh.
Delhi Police, based on a complaint by the victim, registered an FIR under the newly-implemented Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The case was lodged under sections 318 (3) (cheating), 204 (personating a public servant), 61 (1) (a) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS.
Vishal (name changed), resident of Karol Bagh, was at his shop on July 13 when his phone rang at around two in the afternoon. “Hello, is this Vishal Handa?” a woman asked curtly over the line.
“Yes, who is this?” Vishal answered. “Lucknow Police from Alam Bagh police station is looking for you,” was the reply from the other side. Vishal turned stiff.
Over the next few minutes, Vishal learned from the woman that a SIM card had been issued in his name about a month-and-a-half ago in Lucknow and it has been used in the commission of several crimes.
Before Vishal could catch a breath, the call was transferred to another official person who introduced himself as the Assistant Director General of Lucknow Police.
The self-proclaimed ADG then told Vishal that as many as 17 FIRs had been filed against his name for committing offences of money laundering and human trafficking and a local court has issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
The unidentified scamsters then disconnected the call, only to contact Vishal over video call exactly after a minute. When Vishal answered, he saw a man sitting in ‘official-looking khakhis’.
He asked Vishal, who was sitting in his Karol Bagh shop with two of his friends, to isolate himself. He was then threatened and ‘rigorously interrogated’ for a couple of hours over video call, Vishal told Delhi Police in his complaint.
“He asked me to send two installments of `4 lakh each for purchasing some legal papers for my bail and to appoint a government advocate... He threatened me, saying if I did not send the money, he would get me arrested, seal my shop, confiscate my house, and seize all my SIM cards,” the complaint read.
The unknown accused coerced the victim to share the details of his PAN card, Aadhaar card and even his bank accounts. The victim ultimately gave in and transferred Rs 31 lakh to the fraudsters through multiple transactions.
‘Isolated and threatened’
Vishal, who was with two of his friends, was first isolated and then ‘rigorously interrogated’ for a couple of hours over video call, he said in his complaint. “He threatened me, saying if I did not send money, he would get me arrested, seal my shop, confiscate my house, seize all my SIM cards.”