E-Paper
Man posing as CBI officer dupes Ludhiana woman of ₹16 lakh
Taking swift action, the police have frozen nearly ₹3 lakh in the bank accounts in which the woman had transferred the money
A fraudster impersonating a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer duped a woman of ₹16 lakh. The accused called the woman over the phone and accused her for smuggling drugs to foreign countries through a parcel. He demanded money from the victim in lieu of avoiding action against her.
The woman transferred the money to the bank account of the accused. Later, she filed a police complaint on realising that she had been duped. Taking swift action, the police have frozen nearly ₹3 lakh in the bank accounts in which the woman had transferred the money.
The complainant, Sumeet Paul Bhalla, a resident of Civil Lines, said that she received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be a CBI officer from Lucknow and said that he had recovered a parcel containing 60gm heroin, along with clothes and other valuables, which was supposed to be sent abroad. He claimed that he had arrested a person named Sanjay Patil, who confessed to have deposited ₹3.5 crores into the victim’s bank account. He said that this indicated that she was a part of the smuggling operation and action would be taken against her.
Bhalla alleged that the accused asked her to transfer ₹16 lakh into a bank account, claiming that it was a government department’s account and once the allegations were cleared, they would return the money. The victim said that this scared and she rushed to the nearest bank and transferred the funds.
However, after depositing the money, she talked to her relatives and friends who told her that she had been duped. The woman then called the accused and asked him to send the money back. The accused, however, threatened her and did not return the money.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, in-charge of cyber cell said, said that they had seized ₹3 lakh in the bank accounts of the fraudsters. The police are trying to trace the accused.
