Cyber fraud: Bihar man held for allegedly duping senior citizen of ₹1 lakh

Police on Friday said that the man, identified as Sunil Kumar, a native of Jamui in Bihar, impersonated a police officer to cheat the elderly

New Delhi: The Bihar Police on Thursday arrested a 24-year-old man from Patna for allegedly duping a senior citizen of Rs.1 lakh.

(Representative Photo)

Police on Friday said that the man, identified as Sunil Kumar, a native of Jamui in Bihar, impersonated a police officer to cheat the elderly.

Kumar’s arrest came following an investigation into a cyber cheating case registered on the complaint of 72-year-old Bhram Singh, a resident of Delhi’s Shahdara, who was duped of Rs.1 lakh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.

Singh in his complaint alleged that on December 31 last year, he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number and the caller identified himself as a police officer. The caller told Singh that his brother’s son was in police custody and he would be arrested and demanded money for his release, the DCP said. Out of fear, Singh transferred Rs.1 lakh into the bank account shared by the caller.

Singh later found out that he was conned, following which he filed a police complaint, and accordingly, a case was registered at the cyber police station of Shahdara district on January 8, said the DCP.

Upon his arrest, two cell phones were found in his possession that were used in cyber crime, police said.

During the probe, the investigating team collected details of the phone number that was used to call Singh and also the details of the bank accounts to which the money was transferred.

The police tracked Kumar’s location to Patna and a team was sent to arrest him.

About the modus operandi, DCP Shahdara said that the cyber cheats contacted victims, mostly elderly people, by threatening to arrest their loved ones or close relatives in false cases.

Kumar is a Class 12 pass and he earlier ran a tea stall in Patna. Later, he came in contact with some people who were involved in cyber crimes. He joined them and began duping people using a similar modus operandi, the DCP added.