Bhopal News: In a shocking incident, a retired bank manager and his family lost more than Rs 67 lakh after fraudsters, posing as police personnel, threatened to arrest him in a terror and financial fraud case. The incident has come to light from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, where the family was kept under “digital arrest” for two days, confirmed the officials.
The incident took place between November 17 and 19. Snehlata Deshmukh, a resident of Shiva Royal Court in Bawadia Kala, lodged a complaint in this regard. Snehlata stated that she lives with her 67-year-old husband, Dayaram Deshmukh, who is a retired manager of a Bank of India branch, and their son Piyush.
How the incident unfolded?
According to the complaint, a man identifying himself as ‘Ranjeet Kumar’, a police officer, called her husband on his mobile phone on November 17. As she received the call, the man stated that her husband was involved in terrorist activities and cited a case number. Police noted that the caller claimed that a terrorist named Ali Fauji had embezzled Rs 7 crore, of which Rs 70 lakh had been transferred into her husband’s bank account, and that an arrest warrant had been issued against him. The caller also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter to anyone.
The caller further demanded Aadhaar details, bank account information and fixed-deposit details of all family members, which she shared out of fear. She then informed her son about the matter, who said that the family could save her husband from arrest only by transferring money into the accounts shared by him. He assured her that the amount would be returned the next day.
Rs 5.17 lakh put on hold
Believing them, she broke her fixed deposits of Rs 68.26 lakh on Monday and transferred Rs 67.5 lakh to the accounts provided by the scammers on Tuesday. She realised it was a fraud only when the caller demanded more money. She then contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 and filed a complaint. The police were able to put Rs 5.17 lakh on hold, but the rest of the money had already been withdrawn by the scammers.
