BENGALURU: Two men who extorted Rs 4.79 crore from an elderly couple under the guise of a “digital arrest” have been arrested by the South East Division CEN police. The accused have been identified as Ishwar Singh and Narayan Singh Chaudhary.
The victims, a couple residing in JP Nagar, believed they were under digital arrest for nearly three months, from March 19 to May 15.
The complainant, Manjunath (77), had worked as an engineer in Nigeria for 31 years. Both his children live separately after their marriages.
The accused contacted the victims posing as bank officials, claiming that their credit card bills were overdue and that their bank accounts were linked to money laundering cases. They also sent a fake arrest warrant, stating that cases had been filed against them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The victims even received video calls from the accused, who posed as officers from the agencies.
During this period, the victims transferred Rs 10 lakh to Ishwar’s account and another Rs 1.8 crore to Narayan’s account. Police tracked the duo using their bank details.
“The elderly couple were rescued based on a tip-off, even though they were residing in the South Division. The accused were arrested after a lookout notice was issued against them following information that they were at a casino in Sri Lanka. The victims had not informed their children about the digital arrest. The case is still under investigation, and more details have to be collected from the accused,” said Sarah Fathima, DCP (South East).
The accused had reportedly spent the extorted money at a casino in Sri Lanka. The complaint was filed in May. Police said the duo had also obtained copies of the victims’ property documents.