Retired army colonel, wife duped of Rs 49 lakh in 'digital arrest' scam
Hamirpur, Apr 18 (PTI): Cybercriminals allegedly placed a retired Indian Army colonel and his wife under "digital arrest" and duped them of Rs 49 lakh in this Himachal Pradesh district, police said on Friday.
The complainant received a video call on WhatsApp in which a man introduced himself as an "officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch". The suspected fraudster claimed that the retired army officer's Aadhaar was used to procure four SIM cards and open a bank account in Mumbai that was used to launder Rs 2 crore.
The fraudster also threatened to look into the couple's bank accounts.
The victims were under "supervision" of the fraudster for almost 11 hours a day since first receiving a call on March 23. They were also kept on video call while transferring money via RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) to the account number provided by the accused, according to the complaint lodged by the retired army officer.
Claiming that the source of the couple's funds was being investigated, the accused demanded money and the complainant transferred Rs 9 lakh on March 29 and Rs 40 lakh on April 4.
The couple were kept under "digital arrest" till April 7. When they realised they had been cheated, they approached the police on April 10.
A case of cheating was registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Mandi and Rs 5.58 lakh frozen in some suspicious accounts. The accused had moved the money that the couple had transferred to 22 accounts, the police said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Cyber Crime) Mohit Chawla said the law did not have any provision for "digital arrest".
"Do not fall prey to fraudsters and lose your life's savings. If you receive any such call or message, contact the toll free 1930 number," he added.
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Govt debunks claims of India attacking Nankhana Sahib in Pakistan, other disinformation
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): The government on Saturday debunked claims that India had launched a drone attack on the Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.
"A video shared on social media is claiming that India has carried out a drone attack on the Nankhana Sahib gurdwara. This claim is completely fake," the PIB Fact Check Unit said.
Such content was being circulated to create communal hatred in India, it said.
Nankhana Sahib is the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and the gurdwara is a revered shrine and pilgrimage centre for Sikhs.
The government also dismissed as "fake" certain social media posts claiming that an Indian pilot ejected from his fighter aircraft in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that a woman Air Force pilot was captured in Pakistan.
The government also debunked claims that India's power grid had been rendered dysfunctional in a cyberattack by Pakistan, and that there had been a temporary closure of the Mumbai-Delhi airline route.
"These claims are fake," the government said.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has extended the temporary closure of 25 segments of Air Traffic Service (ATS) routes within the Delhi and Mumbai Flight Information Regions due to operational reasons, it said.
The government also said an old video showing Indian soldiers crying was actually of youngsters from a private defence coaching centre celebrating their selection in the Army.
The PIB Fact Check Unit said the video in question was uploaded on Instagram on April 27 and was not related to the Army.
"The video depicts students from a private defence coaching institute celebrating their selection into the Indian Army. The youth in the video reportedly became emotional with joy upon receiving news of their successful recruitment," it said.
The government also debunked reports in a section of foreign media about 10 explosions around the airport in Srinagar on Friday, as well as separate claims of blasts near the Jaipur airport.
"These claims are fake. Rely only on official sources for authentic information," a government official said.
The PIB Fact Check Unit also said that claims on social media about destruction of Indian army posts were false and that a video shared in this regard dated back to 2020.
"This video is old and NOT related to any activity post Operation Sindoor. The video was originally uploaded on YouTube on Nov 15, 2020," it said.
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Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib Under India's Drone Attack
Modi's India Fired A Drone Attacking Guru Nanak Sahib's Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib -- Pakistan Army Shot Down the Indian Drone Aimed At Sri Nankana Sahib..!!!@sikhsforjustic @SFJ_US_Official
Now ....Not… pic.twitter.com/2tsTjV4pKj
