Retd Armyman, 80, sister duped of Rs 65 lakh in digital arrest scam

Almora: An 80-year-old retired Armyman and his 75-year-old sister were defrauded of over Rs 65 lakh in a cyber scam after being held under a 15-day digital arrest from March 24 to April 7. The fraudsters, impersonating police officials, threatened them with arrest in a fabricated child kidnapping case to extort money, police said on Thursday.
Pooran Chandra Joshi, a former Subedar in the Indian Army and resident of Purvi Pokharkhali in Almora, filed a complaint at the Kotwali police station on Tuesday stating that he received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown number on March 23.
"The caller, claiming to be a police officer, falsely accused me of being linked to a child abduction syndicate. Under intense psychological pressure and fear of legal consequences, I shared my bank details and transferred Rs 3.4 lakh the next day," Joshi said. He added that the fraudsters also threatened to imprison the children of his sister, Bhagwati Pandey, to pressure them into transferring more money.
Police said the scammers later targeted Pandey, a retired health department employee, after spotting her during a bank visit with Joshi. Using similar tactics and false accusations, they manipulated her into transferring Rs 62.26 lakh.
Senior superintendent of police Devendra Pincha said, "A case has been registered under BNS section 318(4) (cheating) and an investigation has been initiated with support from the cyber cell. Efforts are underway to trace the culprits and recover the amount."
In a similar incident in Dec last year, a 58-year-old professor from Nainital was duped of Rs 47 lakh after being kept under a harrowing 18-day-long digital arrest, during which he even sought permission to visit his university and eat within stipulated time slots. According to senior police officials, this was the "longest known instance of a digital arrest in Uttarakhand".
Notably, the state has witnessed a sharp rise in digital arrest cases over the past two years. While only one case was reported by the state cyber police in 2023, the number surged to 15 in 2024, with victims collectively losing around Rs 13 crore. In one instance, a man from Dehradun was defrauded of Rs 3 crore, while another from the same city lost Rs 2.27 crore.
Almora: An 80-year-old retired Armyman and his 75-year-old sister were defrauded of over Rs 65 lakh in a cyber scam after being held under a 15-day digital arrest from March 24 to April 7. The fraudsters, impersonating police officials, threatened them with arrest in a fabricated child kidnapping case to extort money, police said on Thursday.
Pooran Chandra Joshi, a former Subedar in the Indian Army and resident of Purvi Pokharkhali in Almora, filed a complaint at the Kotwali police station on Tuesday stating that he received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown number on March 23.
"The caller, claiming to be a police officer, falsely accused me of being linked to a child abduction syndicate. Under intense psychological pressure and fear of legal consequences, I shared my bank details and transferred Rs 3.4 lakh the next day," Joshi said. He added that the fraudsters also threatened to imprison the children of his sister, Bhagwati Pandey, to pressure them into transferring more money.
Police said the scammers later targeted Pandey, a retired health department employee, after spotting her during a bank visit with Joshi. Using similar tactics and false accusations, they manipulated her into transferring Rs 62.26 lakh.
Senior superintendent of police Devendra Pincha said, "A case has been registered under BNS section 318(4) (cheating) and an investigation has been initiated with support from the cyber cell. Efforts are underway to trace the culprits and recover the amount."
In a similar incident in Dec last year, a 58-year-old professor from Nainital was duped of Rs 47 lakh after being kept under a harrowing 18-day-long digital arrest, during which he even sought permission to visit his university and eat within stipulated time slots. According to senior police officials, this was the "longest known instance of a digital arrest in Uttarakhand".
Notably, the state has witnessed a sharp rise in digital arrest cases over the past two years. While only one case was reported by the state cyber police in 2023, the number surged to 15 in 2024, with victims collectively losing around Rs 13 crore. In one instance, a man from Dehradun was defrauded of Rs 3 crore, while another from the same city lost Rs 2.27 crore.