Cyber cheat held for duping senior citizen in Delhi

Police identified the accused as Sunil Kumar, originally from Jamui in Bihar. They said that two mobile phones used in the crime were also seized from him.

The Delhi Police have arrested a 24-year-old man from Patna, Bihar for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of ₹1 lakh by impersonating a police officer and threatening to implicate his (the victim’s) nephew in a fake case, officers aware of the case said on Friday.

The victim was duped of ₹1 lakh. (File)

Police identified the accused as Sunil Kumar, originally from Jamui in Bihar. They said that two mobile phones used in the crime were also seized from him.

“Interrogation of the arrested cyber cheat has revealed that some people from Jharkhand were duping elderly people using the same modus operandi. We checked his (Kumar’s) bank accounts and found a money trail of ₹5 lakh. Apart from the Delhi resident, we have also found three other complaints linked to similar cyber cheating,” said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary.

Giving details of the case, Choudhary said Bhram Singh, 72, a resident of Rohtas Nagar near Shahdara, filed a police complaint stating that he was cheated of ₹1 lakh. Singh, in his complaint, alleged that on December 31, he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number, and when he picked up, the caller identified himself as an officer from the Sadar police station.

“The caller informed Singh that his brother’s son was in police custody, and would be arrested in some case, and demanded money. Out of fear, Singh transferred ₹1 lakh into the bank account shared by the caller. Singh later found out that he was conned. He filed a complaint and accordingly the case was registered at the cyber police station of Shahdara district on January 8,” the DCP added.

During the probe, the investigating team collected details of the phone number used to call Singh, and also of the bank accounts in which the money was transferred. Through technical investigation, the police found the location of the suspect in Patna. A team was sent to Patna and Kumar was arrested on Tuesday, the police said.