Retired Army officer held under 55-hour ‘digital arrest’, robbed of Rs 5 lakh

A retired Army officer in Haryana’s Faridabad has fallen prey to cyber fraud through ‘digital arrest’ and has been duped of Rs 5 lakh, police said on Wednesday.
Retired Army officer Aditya Jha was held under a 55-hour digital arrest by the fraudsters and was even called to Bihar’s Madhubani to transfer the money as demanded. Following the incident, Jha approached the police and a case was registered.
As per the complaint, the scammers called Jha, who is now working as a clerk at a local Punjab National Bank, at around 9:55 am on November 6.
The fraudsters, posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), told Jha that his phone would be switched off in about two hours and that another SIM had been issued on his Aadhaar number.
Jha, who was in Delhi at the time of the call, was shocked when the scammers told him that illegal gambling had been done and obscene messages had been sent from his number, so an FIR was registered against him.
Moments later, another person took the phone. This person, posing as a CBI officer, told Jha that an arrest warrant had been issued against him. Jha was really scared to know that and was even called to the CBI office at the earliest.
According to the complaint, Jha was further told by the so-called CBI officer that a money laundering case of Rs 6.68 crore had also been lodged against him and that he had been found to have connections with NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Nawab Malik.
Nawab Malik is facing trial in an alleged money laundering case in Mumbai.
When Aditya Jha denied any wrongdoing and connections with the NCP leader, the fraudsters asked him to cooperate with them and threatened him with arrest if he did not comply.
Jha was also threatened that he might be imprisoned for three to seven years for the alleged crimes.
Jha further alleged in his complaint that he was then asked to receive a video call, leave his home and find a hotel to stay. He followed their instructions. After he moved to the hotel, he was asked to furnish his bank details so that the money laundering case against him could be further investigated.
They asked Jha not to call his family members, telling him that it would lead to a breach of security and his family’s arrest as well.
He was then directed to transfer Rs 5.03 lakh to a bank account as told by the scammers. Jha abided and reached a local branch of Punjab National Bank to transfer the money. However, the transaction could not be completed due to some technical reasons.
Jha was then asked to go to his base-branch in Madhubani in order to transfer the amount. He went to Madhubani and eventually transferred the money.
When Jha’s relatives in Madhubani came to know about the incident, they reached his location and disconnected the video call. His son also reached there the same night and returned home with him.
After returning to Faridabad, the retired Army officer filed a complaint with the local police, after which a case was registered.
Police Public Relations Officer Yashpal Singh said that a team had been formed to investigate the matter and a manhunt had been launched to track down the culprits.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.