A retired Indian Railways employee was allegedly duped of ₹30 lakh by an interstate cyber fraud syndicate that impersonated ATS, NIA and RBI officials and falsely linked him to terror funding and money laundering, the Delhi Police Crime Branch said on Sunday. One person has been arrested.
The accused, identified as Sunil Singla, a resident of Fatehabad in Haryana, allegedly operated a bank account through which ₹15 lakh of the cheated money was routed. The account was also linked to seven other cyber fraud cases registered in different States, the police said.
According to the police, the Dwarka resident was contacted through phone calls and WhatsApp video calls by people posing as officials of the ATS, NIA and RBI. They told him that he had been linked to a terror funding and money laundering case connected with the Red Fort blast in Delhi and threatened him with arrest.
The fraudsters sent forged documents, including purported confidentiality agreements, RBI confirmations and legalisation bonds, through WhatsApp. They kept him under continuous surveillance through calls and video conferences and pressured him to disclose details of his bank accounts, fixed deposits and other assets.
The victim was then made to liquidate his funds and transfer ₹30 lakh through RTGS to bank accounts controlled by the syndicate, the police said.
Bank trail
During the investigation, officials analysed the banking trail, KYC details and digital evidence and found that ₹15 lakh of the cheated amount had been transferred to an account in the name of M/s Shri Balaji Tractor, allegedly operated by Mr. Singla.
Further scrutiny of the account revealed suspicious high-value transactions and its alleged involvement in seven other cyber fraud cases across different States. The police also found that Mr. Singla had previously been arrested in another cyber fraud case registered by the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell.
The Crime Branch said ₹12 lakh of the cheated amount had so far been recovered or refunded to the complainant.
Further investigation is under way to identify other members of the interstate network.
