Copyright thehindu
Two persons from Maharashtra were nabbed by the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police in connection with a ₹6.6 lakh ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud that led to the death of a retired doctor. The accused were identified as Shankar Supur, 38, a water purifier worker from Kolhapur district, and Vishwas Dattatraya Miraje, 35, a businessman from Sangli district. Supur allegedly operated as an account holder while Miraje acted as an account supplier, said an officer from the wing. According to the officer, the complainant reported that his mother, a retired CSRMO from Malakpet’s MN Area Hospital, died of a cardiac arrest on September 8 after being subjected to continuous harassment by cyber fraudsters. “From September 5-8, she was repeatedly contacted via WhatsApp calls by the accused, who posed as Bangalore police and also officials from other agencies. The fraudsters fabricated documents of the Supreme Court, Enforcement Directorate, Reserve Bank of India and other institutions, falsely implicating her in a human trafficking case. Under sustained threats of arrest, she transferred ₹6,60,543 from her Union Bank pension account to an ICICI Bank account controlled by the accused,” the officer said. Police said that the ‘intimidation’ did not stop even after the money was transferred. The woman, distressed by persistent psychological harassment, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. Investigators explained that the fraudsters used caller ID spoofing, WhatsApp video calls and forged documents such as arrest warrants and RBI letters to frighten victims. They pressured targets into transferring money under the guise of verification or for obtaining a so-called ‘No Involvement Certificate’. Police emphasised that there is no such thing as a digital arrest and that no law enforcement agency demands money to clear names or issue certificates.
