Another doctor in Lucknow falls prey to digital arrest scam, duped of ₹48 lakh

He was put under digital arrest for over 1.5 days at his home on August 20 , 21 and duped by two fraudsters - one posing as an employee of a courier service and the other as DGP of Mumba

LUCKNOW Another doctor in Lucknow fell victim to a cyber scam after being digitally extorted by conmen. Aliganj-based physician, Dr Ashok Solanki, who runs a clinic in Vikas Nagar, was put under digital arrest for over 1.5 days at his home on August 20 and 21 and duped of ₹48 lakh by two fraudsters - one posing as an employee of a courier service and the other as DGP of Mumbai, said Lucknow police.

The victim said the thug told him that a transaction of crores had been done in his account and CBI and ED were investigating it. (Pic for representation)

An FIR under sections 319 (2), 318 (2) and 66D of the BNS was registered at the cyber crime police station here on August 22 , on the complaint by Dr Ashok Solanki, but the matter surfaced on Thursday. The incident came on the heels of a digital arrest of a PGI doctor earlier this month who was duped of ₹2.8 crore by cyber thugs.

In his complaint, Solanki stated that a person called him on August 20 and introduced himself as an employee of FedEx Courier Service located in Andheri East (Mumbai), saying that an FIR had been registered against him at the Mumbai Crime Branch.

“The caller said a parcel has been sent to you in the name of Arman Ali, who lives in Iran. It contains fake passports, laptops, pen drives and drugs...an FIR has been registered against you at the Crime Branch, Mumbai, and you should also register an FIR for which I will connect you with cops from Mumbai Crime Branch via videocall,” the victim stated, adding that the thug made him speak to another conman posing as DCP of Mumbai.

After this, the conmen digitally arrested the doctor and asked him to transfer ₹48 lakh.

The victim said the thug told him that a transaction of crores had been done in his account and CBI and ED were investigating it. “Whatever amount is there in your account, transfer it to the accounts mentioned. RBI will investigate, and after that, the amount will be sent back to your account. This will help in catching the culprits,” the accused told Solanki.

The doctor fell for their words and transferred ₹48 lakh on August 21 in two instalments to the accounts mentioned by the duo. After that neither the money was returned nor did the callers call again, said police.