The fraud occurred between Aug 19 and 20
A case has been registered under sections 308, 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. To lend credibility to their claims, the accused allegedly displayed a fake police identity card and sent a forged letter purportedly signed by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman .
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A 61-year-old retired clerk from Chidrawar Nagar in Parbhani city was allegedly duped of Rs 11 lakh by cyber fraudsters impersonating police officers, who threatened him with a “digital arrest” claiming his bank account was linked to a money laundering case. Parbhani superintendent of police Pankaj Kumawat said the callers further alleged that the ATM card had been handed over in exchange for a 10% commission and that Rs 20 lakh routed through it constituted “black money”. They then convinced the retired clerk that a digital arrest warrant had been issued against him. They also invoked the name of the Reserve Bank of India during the calls. The fraud came to light after the retired clerk realised he had been cheated and approached Kotwali police.
The fraud occurred between Aug 19 and 20, according to the complaint. “The fraudsters told the victim that Rs 2 crore had been deposited into a bank account in his name at a Mumbai-based bank.
They claimed that his ATM card had been recovered from a person associated with an extremist organisation,” an officer said citing the complaint. The accused, who remain unidentified, allegedly contacted him through WhatsApp video and audio calls, introducing themselves as officers from Mumbai’s Colaba police station.
Police said the case was registered through an e-zero FIR initiated by Maharashtra Cyber, and the investigation has been handed over to an officer of police inspector rank. Investigators are examining the money trail and digital evidence to identify the accused.