Gonda (UP), Oct 30 A retired accounts officer was allegedly duped of Rs 78 lakh by cyber fraudsters, who kept him under the threat of ‘digital arrest’ for nearly a month, police said here on Friday.
The accused allegedly posed as CBI and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials and accused him of sharing confidential information with Pakistani military officials, they said.
The victim, Raj Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Subhash Nagar, received a WhatsApp call on September 22 from a person allegedly claiming to be a CBI officer. Another caller later identified himself as an IB official.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened him with arrest and money laundering charges and persuaded him to transfer money to various bank accounts to avoid legal action.
Srivastava transferred Rs 50 lakh from his Punjab National Bank account and Rs 18 lakh from his Indian Bank account. He later sold his properties to arrange another Rs 10 lakh.
The accused stopped responding to his calls after receiving the money. He filed a complaint at the cybercrime police station on October 28.
An FIR has been registered under the Information Technology Act and other relevant provisions, SP Abhishek said, adding that two police teams have been formed to investigate the case.
(PTI News)
