Elderly woman duped of Rs 2.98 crore: Two more accused arrested

Police said the duo lured a Chandigarh-based woman by promising benefits under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana, obtained her bank-related documents and later transferred Rs 7 lakh — a part of the cheated amount—into her bank account. Acting on the transaction trail, the police reached the woman’s residence, where she narrated her ordeal and shared details about the accused, leading to their arrest. Investigators are now questioning the duo to trace the entire network and money trail.

On January 15, the police had arrested Nitin Singhal, a resident of East Delhi, following a raid in the national capital. About Rs 17 lakh of the defrauded amount was found in his bank account. After completion of police remand, he was sent to judicial custody. Preliminary investigations revealed that the cheated money was routed through multiple bank accounts to complicate recovery and identification of the racket.

According to the complaint, the elderly woman received a call on December 4, with the caller posing as a telecom company employee and threatening disconnection of services. The call was subsequently transferred to persons impersonating senior officials and a CBI officer, who falsely accused her of involvement in large-scale money laundering. The fraudsters intimidated her by claiming she was under “house arrest”, sent photographs to gain credibility, and threatened harm to her children if she disclosed the matter. On December 5, she was produced before a fake courtroom via video call, following which she transferred Rs 2.98 crore to multiple accounts. Suspecting fraud after further demands, she reported the matter to the 1930 cyber helpline.

Chandigarh cyber police nets fourth in credit card racket

Meanwhile, in a separate case, the Chandigarh Police Cyber Crime Cell has arrested a fourth accused in an organised credit card fraud racket. The accused, Sushil Kaushik, 40, of Vijay Vihar, Rohini (Delhi), was arrested on January 22 from Haridwar. Police said he arranged bank accounts and SIM cards using forged documents for a fake call-centre operation that duped victims by impersonating American Express credit card officials. Further investigation is underway to identify other associates, trace the kingpin and recover the cheated amounts.