Digital arrest: 82-year-old retired colonel loses ₹34 million

AN 82-YEAR-OLD retired army officer and his wife were duped of ₹34 million (£307,740.39) by cyber fraudsters who accused them of money laundering by posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) personnel, officials said on Tuesday (1).

As part of the "digital arrest" fraud, the swindlers claimed they were probing a ₹50.38 billion "scam" that resulted in the suicide of a victim and the murder of a whistleblower.

The Chandigarh-based couple was coerced into confining themselves to their house and contacting no one about the "scam", officials added.

Colonel Dalip Singh (retd) and his 74-year-old wife Ranvinder Kaur Bajwa, having lost both their sons earlier, have called on authorities to retrieve the money taken from them.

The couple also appealed to defence minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter, saying their life savings had been wiped out in the fraud.

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Addressing the media, Singh said, "As a youth, I dedicated my life to the service of the nation. Now, in my twilight years, I have lost everything to fraudsters. It is a cruel irony, and my only hope now rests with the Cyber Cell of Chandigarh Police. I hope that our police are equipped with enough skills to nab the fraudsters."

On March 18, Singh allegedly received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number.

The caller accused him of being involved in a money laundering case linked to an account at Canara Bank, Mumbai.

The fraudsters alleged that Naresh Goyal, the jailed owner of now-defunct Jet Airways, had implicated Col Singh, claiming he had sold the account for ₹500,000 and received ₹2 million in commission for laundering ₹20 million.

To make their scheme appear legitimate, the fraudsters showed Singh his ATM card over a video call and claimed they were investigating the scam.

They also sent photos of 24 "victims", stating that one had committed suicide and claimed that a "whistleblower" had been murdered along with his entire family by Naresh Goyal.

The fraudsters further threatened the ex-Army officer and his wife to remain confined within their house, instructing them to keep their phones switched on at all times and forbidding them from contacting anyone.

The digital arrest of the couple continued for 10 days from March 18-27.

The fraudsters even threatened the couple with jail time and asset seizure if they did not cooperate and sent fabricated Supreme Court letters via WhatsApp to reinforce the deception, and demanded full disclosure of their financial assets under the guise of checking for black money, officials said.

The fraudsters forced the couple to deposit money in different accounts. The total amount transferred to accounts provided by the fraudsters amounts to a staggering ₹34 million.

A complaint in this regard has been given to the Cyber Cell of Chandigarh Police which is investigating the matter.

"I also appeal to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene and help recover our lost savings, which were essential to our livelihood," Singh told the media.

"Our demand is that all our hard-earned savings which we had put in fixed deposits so that we could use the funds in our old age should be retrieved and remitted back to us by the authorities," Singh said. (PTI)