Chandigarh: ‘Digital-arrest’ scammers impersonating Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers defrauded a retired public health department official and his wife of almost ₹2 crore.The cybercrime police said Rattan Chand Kashyap and his wife, Parveen Kashyap, of Sector 38-C, had received a WhatsApp call on Sept 29 from an individual identifying himself as ATS officer Vikram Singh. The caller claimed identity documents bearing the couple’s names were recovered from arrested terrorists in Kashmir.The man claimed an HDFC Bank account in their names had transferred ₹70 lakh to terror groups. The fraudsters threatened the couple with arrest under the National Security Act (NSA), fake Supreme-Court warrants, and a 45-day detention in Pune.Under instructions to remain under “house arrest” while logged on digitally, the couple provided photographs of their fixed deposits and passbooks to the caller for a purported National Investigation Agency (NIA) audit.Between Oct 1 and 9, the victims executed four Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transfers totalling almost ₹2 crore to specified bank accounts. The transfers included ₹39 lakh and ₹60 lakh from Kashyap’s State Bank of India accounts, ₹70 lakh from his Punjab National Bank account, and ₹29 lakh from his wife’s ICICI Bank account.On Oct 9, the callers informed the couple their accounts had been cleared of suspicion and promised a full refund the following day. The couple realised they had been defrauded when the callers ceased communication on Oct. 11.The victims reported the incident to the national cybercrime helpline 1930 and submitted transaction details to the Sector 17 cybercrime police station. Chandigarh police have initiated a financial trail investigation.The department recently issued a public advisory urging citizens to verify police impersonators with local stations before transferring funds.
