BESCOM employee dies by suicide after falling prey to 'digital arrest' scam
Bengaluru, Jul 16 (PTI): A 48-year-old Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) employee died by suicide after he allegedly fell prey to a "digital arrest" scam, losing Rs 11 lakh, police said on Wednesday.
Kumar K, who was employed on a contractual basis with BESCOM, hailed from Kelagere village in Channapatna taluk in Bengaluru South district, they said.
He was found hanging from a tree in his village on Tuesday, police said.
In the purported suicide note recovered from the spot, he has cited his health issues and harrasment by cyber fraudster in the name of digital arrest as the reason behind him taking the extreme step.
Digital arrest is a term used in cyber frauds where victims are falsely told they are under surveillance or legal custody through digital means. They are often isolated via continuous video or call surveillance by fraudsters posing as officials, and manipulated into following instructions without alerting others - often leading to extortion or fraud.
According to the police, in the death note, Kumar stated that he received a call from a man named Vikram Goswami who claimed to be a CBI officer and threatened him of digital arrest. The fraudster claimed he had an arrest warrant against Kumar and demanded money to evade digital arrest.
Owing to alleged harassment and fear of being arrested, Kumar initially deposited Rs 1.95 lakh as per the demands of the fraudster. However, he kept demanding more money, a senior police officer said, citing the note.
In total, Kumar claimed to have transferred Rs 11 lakh into several bank accounts as instructed by the fraudsters, he said.
M K Doddi police in Channapatna are investigating the matter and are looking into the allegations levelled by Kumar, the officer said.
"Only after analysing the bank transaction details of Kumar, we will be able to ascertain the exact amount that was transferred," he said.
Kumar is survived by his wife and an eight-year-old son, police added.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
