Mumbai, March 20 -- An 86-year-old woman from south Mumbai lost more than Rs 20 crore of her savings over two months to a 'digital arrest' fraud, police said on Thursday.
One of the fraudsters posed as a 'CBI officer' to extort money from the woman, they said, adding three persons have been arrested in connection with the crime which took place between December 26, 2024 and March 3 this year.
The accused persons had also forced the victim to stay at home for two months and to check her location daily by calling her every three hours, an official said.
The cyber police have managed to freeze Rs 77 lakh belonging to the woman by identifying the bank accounts to which the money was transferred, he added.
As per the police complaint filed by the woman earlier this month, she had received a call from a man, who claimed to be a CBI officer, and told her that based on her Aadhaar card, a bank account was opened which was used for money laundering.
They allegedly extorted Rs 20.26 crore from her over a period of two months, citing various reasons including clearing her name from the "case" and court fees, he said.
The fraudsters promised to refund the amount after completion of the "probe", the official said.
While investigating the case, the cyber police found the money was transferred to various bank accounts, including one of Shayan Jamil Shaikh (20), resident of Malad area here, he said.
The police said Rs 4.99 lakh was transferred to Shaikh's account, which he had withdrawn and handed over to another fraudster.
The cyber police recently tracked down Shaikh and after his arrest and interrogation, they also nabbed another accused Razique Azan Butt (20), resident of Mira Road in neighbouring Thane, the official said.
The police on Wednesday identified one more accused, Hritik Shekhar Thakur (25), resident of Andheri area, in whose account Rs 9 lakh was transferred, and arrested him late night, he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.