Farmer loses Rs 1.31 cr in ‘digital arrest’ scam

Mangaluru: 62-year-old farmer from Dakshina Kannada district has allegedly lost Rs 1.31 crore to cybercriminals who impersonated Mumbai police and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers and accused him of financing the Pahalgam terror attack, police said.

The farmer was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for nearly six weeks and coerced into transferring his savings and loan proceeds to multiple bank accounts under the pretext of a money-laundering investigation.

According to the complaint, the ordeal began on August 27 when the farmer received a call from an unidentified person claiming to be from Mumbai police. The caller alleged that financial transactions linked to the accused in the Pahalgam terror attack had been traced to the farmer and claimed that the Bombay High Court had issued an arrest warrant against him.

The farmer was later contacted through a WhatsApp video call by a man posing as an ATS officer. He was told to remain in a closed room, keep the matter confidential and avoid informing his family. The fraudsters allegedly threatened him with severe punishment, demanded hourly messages confirming his safety and sent forged court and police documents to reinforce their claims.

On August 31, he was instructed to close his and his mother’s fixed deposits and consolidate the funds in his bank account. On September 2, he transferred Rs 35 lakh through RTGS from a Canara Bank branch to an account in Hyderabad, purportedly for verification by the Reserve Bank of India.

The fraudsters subsequently pressured him to pledge gold from a bank locker. He allegedly borrowed Rs 22.5 lakh against the gold at an Axis Bank branch in Puttur and transferred the amount. Threatened with the seizure of his commercial building, he mortgaged the property, obtained a Rs 74 lakh loan from Karnataka Bank and transferred the proceeds the following day.

The farmer realised he had been cheated on October 8 after his daughter, who lives in Bengaluru, alerted him to digital arrest scams. He subsequently approached the police.

Police registered a case involving identity theft, impersonation, wrongful restraint, extortion, cheating and criminal intimidation.

Investigators said the money was transferred to suspected mule accounts linked to businesses in Kolkata, Periyapatna in Mysuru district, Hyderabad and Maharashtra. Banks have been asked to provide account-holder details. Police suspect the funds were diverted further, complicating recovery efforts. Further investigation is under way.

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The Hans India