Justice Liberhan takes ‘bank call’, loses ₹2.25 lakh

Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, 80, former chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court, was duped of ₹2.23 lakh by a fraudster who called him on his mobile phone

Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, 80, former chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court, was duped of ₹2.23 lakh by a fraudster who called him on his mobile phone posing as a bank employee.

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Justice Liberhan, who also headed the commission that probed the Babri mosque demolition, resides in Sector 9, Chandigarh.

He told police that he received a call from a man on July 1 informing him that his debit card had been blocked as he had not updated his Aadhaar number.

“The caller asked him for his particulars. Thinking the call is genuine, he shared the details,” said a cyber cell official, privy to the matter.

The retired judge came to know about the fraud when he gave a salary cheque to his gardener, but it was declined due to lack of funds. On inquiring, he found that ₹2.23 lakh had been withdrawn from his account on July 3.

After carrying out probe, the Sector 3 police registered a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 419(cheating for impersonation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code on September 3.