HYDERABAD: Cyber Crime police have arrested a 32-year-old bank employee from Bengaluru for allegedly placing a 60-year-old woman under a “digital arrest” for over six hours and cheating her of Rs 10.62 lakh.
The accused, identified as Prathap Kesari Pradhan, works at AU Small Finance Bank in Bengaluru. According to Hyderabad police, Pradhan was involved in seven cases across India, including two in Telangana.
The case came to light after the victim lodged a complaint. She stated that on July 4 at around 10 am, she received a call from a man identifying himself as Pradip Sawant, posing as a police officer from Andheri East, Mumbai. He told her that a case had been registered against her under money laundering charges and threatened her with 3–11 years of imprisonment and a fine of `15 lakh if she failed to cooperate in the investigation.
The fraudsters then kept her on a six-hour conference/video call, posing as police and RBI officials, and instructed her to transfer `10 lakh for “tracing” alleged fraudsters. Out of fear, she ended up transferring `10.62 lakh. She was also sent forged documents, including letters purportedly from the CBI, RBI, and ED, along with a fake police ID card.
Cybersecurity focus at IIT-Hyderabad Hackathon
Prof BS Murty, IIT Hyderabad director, speaking at the FinShield Hackathon organised by Bank of India in collaboration with IIT-H, said that such events provide young innovators a platform to create real-world cybersecurity solutions. According to officials, the hackathon received 661 applications from students across India