Lucknow: A 65-year-old woman was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for four days by cyber fraudsters posing as Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers, who duped her of Rs 52 lakh by threatening to implicate her in terror-related activities and send her to prison.The victim, Tarawati, a resident of Sector L in the LDA Colony, Ashiyana, was allegedly coerced into breaking her fixed deposits (FDs) and transferring the money to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.An FIR was registered at the Cybercrime Police Station on Saturday following a complaint by the victim.According to inspector Alok Rao, the fraud took place on Sept 28, when Tarawati received a phone call from a man identifying himself as AbhishekYadav, an officer at the ATS office in Pune.The caller allegedly told her that her mobile phone had been used for terrorist activities and claimed that a joint bank account had been opened in her name with HDFC Bank in Jammu and Kashmir. He further alleged that transactions worth ₹7 crore had taken place through the account and that she had received ₹70 lakh as commission.The fraudsters claimed that the ATS and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) were investigating the case. They threatened that a warrant would be issued for her arrest and that she could face a money-laundering case, life imprisonment and a fine of ₹10 lakh if she failed to cooperate.Threatened with immediate arrest for speaking to anyoneThe accused allegedly warned Tarawati against discussing the matter with anyone, threatening that she would be sent to jail immediately if information about the investigation was disclosed.Under sustained pressure, the woman was allegedly instructed to open a so-called security supervision account and share documents related to her bank accounts and fixed deposits.The fraudsters subsequently directed her to break her fixed deposits and transfer the money to designated bank accounts.According to the complaint, Tarawati first transferred ₹25 lakh to a bank account in Andhra Pradesh. She then transferred another ₹14 lakh on Sept 30 and ₹13 lakh on Oct 1 to a bank account in Maharashtra.Fraud came to light after accused stopped respondingAfter transferring the money, Tarawati attempted to contact the callers but found their phones switched off. She then realised that she had been cheated and approached the police.Inspector Alok Rao said the police had registered an FIR and were attempting to identify the accused on the basis of the phone numbers and bank account details provided by the victim.
