Kolkata: A 72-year-old internationally acclaimed retired scientist and former a researcher at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, who is also an author, lost Rs 1.1 crore to the digital arrest scam with the cybercriminals posing as law enforcement and intelligence officers.
The New Town resident, an Emeritus Scientist Fellowship awardee from ICMR, Delhi, had won the Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya Memorial Prize from the state govt in 2019 for popularising science for a long period of time (25 years) in Bengali.
According to the complaint, the fraud began on Jan 15, when he received a call from a person, identifying himself as DP Uday Kumar, purportedly a senior officer of the cybercrime wing in Bengaluru. The caller threatened the senior citizen, alleging a child trafficking case was registered in his name and that a bank account was fraudulently opened, using his Aadhaar and PAN details. "The man on the call wanted me to go to Bangalore. When I told him I wouldd not be able to go to Bangalore, he offered a cyber investigation," the complainant wrote in his complaint.
The caller subsequently connected the complainant with other individuals, who posed as senior IPS officers. The fraudsters threatened the complainant with legal consequences and told him the scientist that he was under official scrutiny.
Police said the accused persuaded the complainant to transfer money on the pretext of "verification" by the income tax department and ED. Trusting their claims, the retired scientist transferred Rs 1.1 crore via RTGS to multiple bank accounts over several transactions.
He realised he was duped only when the callers not only returned the money after the supposed verification but also demanded more as "fees". He then lodged a complaint at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station. "He said he was kept under constant communication for several days through encrypted messaging platforms, during which forged documents, including Aadhaar and bank-related materials bearing his name, were shown to him to reinforce the deception," said a Bidhannagar City Police officer.
Police said investigations were on to trace the money trail, identify the bank accounts used and track the phone numbers and digital footprints of the accused. "Efforts are being made to ascertain if the fraud is linked to an organised interstate cybercrime racket," the officer said.