Last September, 75-year-old Subhash Chandra Sarkar, a retired petrochemical company employee, became a victim of cyber fraud, losing his life savings and fixed deposits. A phone call originating from Jharkhand led to the theft of Rs 13.5 lakh. With the efforts of the Bidhannagar police, Sarkar has now recovered a portion of his lost funds.
The Bidhannagar cyber cell has shifted its focus towards recovering funds lost to cybercrime in recent months, establishing a dedicated recovery cell to expedite the process, police said. This initiative has resulted in the return of over Rs 2 crore to victims. On Monday, officials symbolically handed over cheques to some of those affected.
“I received a call from someone posing as an Axis Bank employee,” Sarkar recounted. “They claimed my KYC needed immediate updating, or my account would be blocked. Initially, I was skeptical and said I would visit the bank. But they insisted they could help me update it from home, citing my age. I fell for their trick. They asked for an OTP, and though I only gave them the first digit, they claimed the process was complete. That’s when I realized my account had likely been compromised,” he told The Indian Express.
Within a day, Sarkar’s life savings vanished. “The last several months have been filled with worry,” he said. “Recently, the Bidhannagar Police recovered Rs 3.48 lakh, which is a great relief, but I still hope to recover the rest.” Experts say funds withdrawn via ATMs are often difficult to retrieve. However, money transferred to other accounts that were subsequently blocked has been recovered.
“The Bidhannagar police are committed to recovering stolen funds through our dedicated recovery cell,” a spokesperson stated. “We urge everyone to stay alert and stay safe.”
“In the last few months, more than Rs 2 crore which was cheated has been returned to victims. Today, symbolically, they were handed over cheques,” said a senior Bidhannagar cyber cell official on Monday.
One such victim is Dr Himanish Choudhary, a child specialist, who lost Rs 3.5 lakh from his SBI Raghunathpur Branch account due to cyber theft. He has successfully recovered Rs 1.8 lakh so far.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata police is expanding its cybercrime unit into six specialised branches to expedite victim fund recovery and combat cybercrime. The expansion includes increased staffing and a dedicated team for organized cybercrime.