A 76-year-old resident of Lake Town was held hostage by a cyber gang over the phone for two days and was forced to transfer ₹11 lakh to their bank accounts with threats to arrest her.
The gang members claimed that her Aadhaar card was used for fraudulent activities, including sexual harassment, circulating fake gambling advertisements and activating numerous SIM cards.
Bidhannagar police arrested a 20-year-old youth from Alwar in Rajasthan on Wednesday in this connection.
“Mahesh Kumar, a 20-year-old man from Bas Kripalnagar village in Kishangarh Bas tehsil of Alwar district in Rajasthan, was arrested in connection with a digital arrest case filed in Lake Town police station,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
The complaint was lodged by Manju Ganguly, a resident of the Dum Dum Park area of Lake Town, on December 24 last year, the police said.
Officers said the complainant received a WhatsApp video call from a “police officer” in uniform, claiming to be calling on behalf of the Mumbai cybercrime branch.
“The caller informed Ganguly that her Aadhaar card had been used to activate numerous SIM cards and was also used for illegal trading, sexual harassment and fake gambling advertisements,” the officer said.
A scared Ganguly gave in to the gang’s demands and transferred ₹11 lakh to several bank accounts.
Several Calcuttans, especially the elderly, have fallen prey to such “digital arrest” baits.
Last month, a 27-year-old man was arrested in Gujarat for allegedly cheating a 76-year-old retired air force officer in New Town of ₹1.7 crore after placing him under “digital arrest.”