Rajkot: A 65-year-old retired Kandla Port officer was allegedly tricked into sequestering himself for 12 days by the “digital arrest” ruse and cheated of Rs 42 lakh by cybercriminals who posed as Mumbai crime branch officers.Ram Ashray Dubey, who is from UP and has been living in Gandhidham for many years, lodged a complaint at Cyber Crime police station, Kutch East.Dubey, who retired from the fire department of Kandla port (now Deendayal Port Trust) in 2022, said he was in UP on Feb 14 when he received a video call from an unknown WhatsApp number. The caller introduced himself as an officer of Mumbai crime branch and claimed that Dubey was involved in a money-laundering case.The accused told him that money linked to money laundering had been deposited into one of his bank accounts and threatened to arrest him and his family members if he did not cooperate with the investigation.The callers subsequently sent Dubey forged documents purporting to be from Mumbai Police, Supreme Court of India and the Reserve Bank of India. One document carried the Mumbai Police logo, Dubey’s name and Aadhaar number, and what appeared to be the seal of a crime branch station house officer.Dubey was instructed to report to the callers every two hours and deposit all his money ‘with the RBI’. He was warned against speaking of the matter to anyone. The accused told him that his bank accounts were in Gujarat and directed him to travel there and report to them.Dubey reached Gujarat on Feb 17 and, acting on the instructions of the accused, transferred Rs 42 lakh to several bank accounts. The accused promised to return the money if the investigation established that he was not involved in the alleged offence.When the money was not returned, Dubey grew suspicious and informed his son, Vikas. A complaint was subsequently lodged through the cybercrime helpline 1930.Police managed to freeze Rs 4.04 lakh of the defrauded amount, of which Rs 2.65 lakh has been returned to Dubey following a court order.Investigating officer Bharat Borisagar said, “Police are gathering details of the holders of the bank accounts into which the money was transferred. We are also working to identify the holder and users of the WhatsApp number used in the alleged fraud.”
