48-Hour Digital Hostage: Retired Joint Director Loses Rs 12 Lakh to Cyber Fraudsters

Lucknow (The Uttam Hindu): A sensational case of cyber fraud has come to light in the capital Lucknow which has shocked everyone. This time, the fraudsters adopted a new and terrifying method of fraud and kept a retired joint director from the central ministry under 'digital arrest' for 48 hours. They threatened to send him to jail by implicating him in serious charges like money laundering and sending obscene messages to 200 women and extorted a huge amount of Rs 12 lakh from him. On the complaint of the victim, the police have registered a case and started investigation.

The case is from Viramkhand of Gomti Nagar, where 77-year-old Kripa Shankar Gautam, who is retired from the post of Joint Director in the Central Ministry, became the victim of this vicious gang. In his complaint to the police, Kripa Shankar told that this horrifying series started with a phone call from an unknown number on September 2. The woman who called introduced herself as an employee of a telecom company and said that his SIM card would be blocked in two hours. When he asked the reason, the woman disconnected the call saying that his Aadhaar card has been used in money laundering.

Soon after, he received a video call. On the screen was a man in police uniform who introduced himself as Gopesh Kumar. He asked if he had ever lost his Aadhaar card. To this, Kripa Shankar admitted to having lost his Aadhaar card in Bengaluru a few months ago. And that's when the fraudsters started weaving their web.

The fraudster in uniform intimidated him by saying, "The SIM card taken from your Aadhar card has been used for money laundering and sending obscene messages to more than 200 women." The fraudster further aggravated the case by saying that he (Kripa Shankar) is also an accused in this case along with an MP, a policeman and a bank manager. The former director was shocked to hear this.

After this, to intimidate him, the call was transferred to a so-called DCP, who also showed him a fake arrest warrant. The fraudsters threatened him that "the police are after you. Immediately fire all the servants of the house and lock yourself in a room. No one else should come there." In this way, they completely cut off Kripa Shankar from the outside world by 'digitally arresting' him for two days.

The fraudsters intimidated him and took all the details of his bank account. On September 3, he was ordered to go to the bank and was also threatened that police in plain clothes were keeping an eye on him, so he should not talk to anyone. In the shadow of fear, Kripa Shankar went to the bank and transferred Rs 12 lakh from his account to an account of Indusind Bank told by the fraudsters.

During this time, coincidentally, his niece came home. Seeing her, the fraudsters got scared and disconnected the phone. When the niece came to know about the whole incident, she immediately advised to complain to the police. Cyber ​​Crime Police Station Inspector Brijesh Kumar Yadav said that a case has been registered on the basis of the victim's complaint and the matter is being investigated thoroughly.