Noida: Family of three 'digitally arrested' for 5 days, duped of Rs 1 crore
Noida, Feb 10 (PTI): A family here was duped of over Rs 1 crore after they were kept under 'digital arrest' for five days by some unknown people who posed as government officials, police said on Monday.
'Digital arrest' is a new cyber fraud, where the accused pose as law enforcement agency officials, like CBI or customs officials, and threatens people of arrest by making video calls in the name of fake international parcels of banned drugs, they said.
According to police, they received a complaint from Chandrabhan Paliwal that he had received a call from an unknown number on February 1. The caller asked him to contact the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and threatened to block his SIM card.
The caller told the complainant that his case was with the Cyber Crime Branch of Mumbai and about 10 minutes later a person claiming to be an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer made a 'video call' to Paliwal from Mumbai's Kolava Police Station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Preeti Yadav said.
Paliwal said that the fake police officer accused him of extorting money and said that 24 cases were registered against him at different locations. The caller also said that the CBI was investigating the matter of money laundering, the DCP said.
Paliwal told the police that his wife and daughter were also digitally arrested after they received video calls. The callers threatened that if they did not pay the amount, they would be arrested soon, DCP said.
Yadav said that the complainant had paid Rs 1.10 crore to the accused in five days. A case was registered and further investigation is underway.
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Prime organiser of Messi event in Kolkata arrested over ‘mismanagement’ after stadium chaos
Kolkata (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium here, following widespread chaos at the venue, which prompted the Argentine World Cup-winning captain to leave the field early.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the stadium unrest, Datta was held by the Bidhannagar Police for “mismanagement” of the event from the Kolkata airport, where he had gone to see off Messi and his entourage on their way to Hyderabad.
"We are looking into whether there was any mismanagement from the organiser's side, which led to the chaos at the stadium. He has been detained, and the police have now brought the situation under control," West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar said at a press conference.
A senior police officer later confirmed that Dutta has been arrested. Till reports last received, the police were interrogating him and his manager inside one of the departure lounges of the airport.
The organiser has given in writing that he will refund the prices of tickets he sold to the disappointed spectators, Kumar said.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated, as they failed to catch a glimpse of their superstar despite having travelled from far and wide, paying hefty sums for tickets.
Police said they were also investigating how organisers allowed sale of bottled waters and beverages inside the stadium premises, which are banned items during such events.
Thousands of water bottles were used as missiles and lobbed inside the pitch by angry spectators, who also uprooted bucket seats from the gallery and used them as ammunition inside the field against the defending police and security personnel.
Spectators alleged that water bottles were being sold at a massive premium inside the stadium despite police disallowing such items from outside at the entry gates.
Police agreed there was an underlying tension in the galleries on account of Messi not showing his footballing skills on the field, which only got aggravated after a bunch of VIPs, including State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and unidentified people, blocked the football icon’s view during the limited time he spent on the ground.
“We are on the job, and will ensure that whoever is responsible for what happened today at Salt Lake Stadium will be punished, and action will be taken against the authorities concerned,” said Jawed Shamim, ADG, Law and Order.
