Elderly woman gets back ₹17 lakh lost in digital arrest scam after police action in Mangaluru
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Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Police have helped an elderly woman recover the ₹17 lakh she had lost in a “digital arrest” scam. The money was symbolically handed over to the victim at the Police Commissioner’s office in the presence of DCPs Mithun and Ravishankar.
Explaining the case, DCP Mithun said that on October 23, a 79-year-old woman from Bejai received a WhatsApp call from a person posing as a police officer. The caller falsely claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued against her and threatened her with immediate detention unless she deposited money for verification purposes.
Fearing arrest, the woman was kept engaged on a WhatsApp video call for nearly five hours, a method fraudsters use to simulate a “digital arrest.” During this time, she went to her bank and transferred ₹17 lakh from her savings account to the scammer’s account by around 3 pm.
Later that evening, around 6 pm, she confided in a neighbour, who immediately accompanied her to the Cyber Crime Police Station to file a complaint. Acting quickly, the police contacted the 1930 cyber helpline and had the recipient account blocked. They also coordinated with the bank manager to confirm that the money was still intact.
On October 24, the police submitted a request to the court to release the frozen funds. Due to the intervening holidays, the court issued an order on October 27, after which the money was transferred back to the victim’s account.
DCP Mithun said the quick complaint and immediate action by the police made it possible to recover the entire amount. He pointed out that in most such cases, victims delay reporting due to fear or embarrassment, making recovery difficult.
In Mangaluru city limits alone, cybercriminals have duped victims of over ₹8 crore this year in eight different cases. So far, police have recovered ₹35.98 lakh. Elderly citizens are said to be the most frequent targets of digital arrest scams.
DCP Mithun warned the public that there is no legal process called “digital arrest” in India. He clarified that law enforcement agencies such as the police, judiciary, CBI, or ED do not operate in such a manner. He urged people not to panic or comply when they receive such calls, and instead, disconnect immediately and contact the Cyber Crime Police.
He also noted that digital investment scams are on the rise. Many people lose money by investing in fake trading platforms without verifying whether they are approved by RBI or SEBI. The police are conducting awareness campaigns in neighbourhoods and educational institutions to alert citizens about such frauds, he added.
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Four booked for tying 18-year-old to tree, beating him up in UP's Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.
According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.
The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.
Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.
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