Senior citizen placed under digital arrest for 'Delhi blast probe', forced to pay Rs 16.50 lakh

The incident came to light on Monday after the victim, a resident of Mumbai'sAndheri East, approached the West Region Cyber Police Station, an official said.

Mumbai: A 75-year-old retired BMC official was allegedly duped of Rs 16.50 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as ATS and NIA officials and placed him under a "digital arrest" for 'interrogation', claiming his name surfaced in the Delhi Bomb blast case, police said on Wednesday.

The incident came to light on Monday after the victim, a resident of Andheri East, approached the West Region Cyber Police Station, an official said.

According to the police, the victim received a call on December 11 from unidentified persons claiming to be officers from the Delhi Anti-Terrorism Department. The caller threatened him, saying his name had surfaced in a Delhi bomb blast case and that he needed to be interrogated secretly.

The caller then asked the victim to download the Signal application, where he received a video call. During the call, one of the fraudsters posed as NIA officer Sadanand Date.

The caller told the victim that a bank account linked to his mobile number had allegedly received Rs 7 crore through money laundering activities and warned that he would be arrested in the case, police said.

Citing the seriousness of the matter and its alleged connection to national security, the caller instructed the victim not to discuss the issue with anyone.

Claiming that the agency needed to verify whether his investments and deposits were from legal sources, the fraudsters asked the victim to transfer his money to certain bank accounts for verification.

Accordingly, the victim deposited Rs 16.50 lakh, following which the caller blocked his number.

The victim then approached the cyber police and lodged a complaint, based on which a case has been registered against unidentified persons, the official said.