Vadodara: In a case involving one of the largest amounts defrauded using the “digital arrest” modus operandi in Gujarat, a 62-year-old Vadodara resident lost Rs 1.48 crore after being duped into keeping himself under constant online surveillance by cybercriminals who posed as law enforcement officials.Atul Kashikhar, a resident of Vasna Road, filed a complaint with at Cyber Crime police station after the gang allegedly duped him over several weeks.The fraud began in March with a call from a man identifying himself as “Manav Sharma from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India”.Sharma told Kashikhar that a mobile number had been illegally issued using his Aadhaar details and was being used for unlawful advertisements. He then directed Kashikhar to speak to a purported crime branch officer in Mumbai for “police clearance”.Kashikhar then got a video call from a man claiming to be a CBI officer, who said that Kashikhar’s Aadhaar had been used to open a bank account linked to money laundering worth Rs 538 crore. The caller threatened that legal action could lead to a seven-year jail term.The accused kept Kashikhar under pressure through repeated video calls, posing as an IPS officer, other police officials, a judge and a lawyer. They also sent him forged CBI and court notices to terrify Kashikhar.Kashikhar stated he was “kept under digital arrest” from March 10 to March 27, with the gang contacting him every two hours. They instructed him to keep his house shut and not tell anyone about the calls.They took details of his bank accounts, fixed deposits and insurance policies under the pretext of verification. During this period, Kashikhar transferred Rs 1.59 crore to bank accounts stipulated by the accused.As the gang demanded more money, Kashikhar tried to liquidate his fixed deposits. The bank alerted his daughter, who contacted him and told him he was being cheated. Kashikhar then approached the police.Cyber Crime officials managed to recover Rs 11 lakh of the transferred funds.
