Kolkata: A day after a 76-year-old woman, a former employee of a health and technology MNC residing at Lake Gardens, fell victim to digital arrest and lost Rs 97 lakh in the process, the Lake Police has drawn up an FIR. Meanwhile, the Southeast Cyber Cell has swung into action and began tracing the money that was routed through multiple accounts, probably converted into cryptocurrency.
The police said that at least 18 accounts have been put under scanner and attempts have already begun to block the parked money from changing hands. "It will take some time to go through the money trail. However, given the huge loss, we are investigating the case on a priority," said an investigating officer.
The police are certain that mule accounts were used to park the RTGS payments. "We will approach the banks concerned for leads," added the officer. A senior officer at Lalbazar has promised to help the Southeast Cyber Cell in the probe. "If required, we will investigate independently," said a top official on Wednesday.
The family stated they were initially shocked when the Lake Police returned their application with a received stamp, the duty officer stating that there are "no FIRs in such cases". However, senior officers from the division — and even the Lake OC — intervened, and the case was registered. "The cops told us that it takes time to lodge an FIR," said a relative, stating the FIR copy was yet to be handed over to them.
The victim, identified as Rita Das, takes care of her 89-year-old bedridden husband, Subrata Das, a retired chief commercial officer at Income Tax. The torture, claimed Rita, had started on Jan 21 and continued till Feb 3, with the fraudsters posing as GPO and CBI officers. They asked her to keep her tab switched on 24 hours a day, forced her to fill out questionnaires, and compelled her to apply for "settlements" on plain paper almost two to three times daily. The accused managed to convince her using fake stamps and seals. Most of the transactions were completed through RTGS.
It was only when the woman broke down on Tuesday, after the fraudsters demanded another Rs 50 lakh for settlement, that she decided to seek help. All the while, she did not even let her husband know that she was under digital arrest. When both her banks called to know why she was transferring so much money, she said she was under distress and would explain to them after the second week of Feb.
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