Retd engr from Hanumangarh duped of 1.5 cr in cyber fraud

Jaipur: In yet another case of digital fraud, a retired engineer from Hanumangarh was defrauded of Rs 1.5 crore by cyber criminals who impersonated police, CBI, and Enforcement Directorate officials. The victim registered an FIR at the cyber police station, Thursday, alleging that the bogus officials coerced him into transferring the money in three instalments by threatening to implicate him in a criminal case.

The victim, Om Prakash Makad, who lives in the Housing Board Colony of Hanumangarh, received a WhatsApp call on May 10 from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be Inspector Vijay Khanna of Colaba Police Station, Mumbai, and falsely told Makad that his phone number would be blocked due to its alleged link to suspicious transactions with a fake company.

The caller said the Enforcement Directorate seized Rs 500 crore from the company and wrongfully tied Makad to the case. The fraudsters escalated the pressure by sending Makad a fake arrest warrant and bombarding him with threatening calls. One individual, posing as Neeraj Kumar, DCP CBI, Mumbai, contacted Makad multiple times.

According to Hanumangarh Police, Makad received 40 to 50 calls from Indian and international numbers over the week. The scammers used fear tactics to manipulate Makad into sharing details of his fixed deposits. Under the threat of arrest, Makad was forced to prematurely withdraw his fixed deposits from three banks and transfer the money to accounts controlled by the criminals. The retired engineer transferred Rs 69.5 lakh, Rs 27.5 lakh, and Rs 50.5 lakh in three separate transactions, resulting in a total loss of Rs 1.5 crore.

Additional superintendent of police, Hanumangarh, Jintesh Tanwar, said, a case under the IT Act was registered at the cyber police station. He said that police teams are working closely with the victim, and cyber experts have been involved to track the culprits and recover the funds.