Bengaluru, Sep 23 (PTI): In a swift operation, the Bengaluru police have recovered Rs 14 lakh which BJP Chikkaballapura MP K Sudhakar’s wife Preeti had lost in a cyber fraud through 'digital arrest'.

According to police, the incident took place on August 26.

Digital arrest is a cyber scam in which fraudsters impersonate police or enforcement agency officials and threaten victims through WhatsApp video calls, claiming they are booked in criminal cases.

Preeti (44), resident of Basaveshwaranagar, Bengaluru, received a WhatsApp call from cyber fraudsters posing as officials from the Mumbai Cyber Crime Police.

The fraudsters told her that there had been an illegal transfer of money from her bank account. They would send her money to the RBI for verification and would transfer it back to her account within 45 minutes. The scamsters also said that if she failed to transfer the money to the account they had specified, she would be arrested.

"By threatening, they got a total of Rs 14 lakh transferred from the complainant’s HDFC Bank account to an unknown YES Bank account and committed fraud," the police said.

Later, the same evening, Preeti lodged a complaint with the police. The complainant also made a call to the National Cyber Helpline (NCRP) number 1930 within the ‘Golden Hour’ and lodged a complaint, police said.

Accordingly, a case was registered and an investigation was taken up.

As a result, the money transferred to the accused’s account was frozen. On September 3, the 47th ACJM Court issued an order directing YES Bank authorities to return the frozen amount to the complainant’s account.

"Acting on the order, the entire lost amount of Rs 14 lakh was returned to the complainant," a press note said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of West Division, Girish S, told reporters that efforts are on to trace the accused.

He also appealed to people not to panic if they fall victim to such scams.

"If a complaint is immediately lodged (within Golden Hour) with the National Cyber Helpline (NCRP) number 1930, and a case is registered at the nearest police station without delay, prompt action can be taken to prevent losses," he said.

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Lucknow (PTI): Adverse weather forced an IndiGo Kolkata-Patna flight to make an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Friday, airport sources said.

According to airport officials, weather conditions in Patna deteriorated suddenly on Friday afternoon, affecting flight operations.

IndiGo flight 6E 6917 from Kolkata, which was scheduled to land in Patna at 3.50 pm, could not land due to bad weather and kept circling in the air after failing to get clearance from air traffic control, they said.

The flight was later diverted to Lucknow and landed safely at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at around 5.15 pm. There were 180 passengers and six crew members on board, officials said.

The aircraft was later allowed to depart for Patna after weather conditions improved.