Digital arrest: Criminals extort ₹10 crore from retired Delhi engineer

Delhi: A dedicated team of police and cyber experts has been tasked with recovering the money.

Cybercriminals extorted ₹10 crore from a 72-year-old retired engineer in Delhi after keeping him under the so-called "digital arrest" for eight hours. The police said the victim is a resident of Delhi's Rohini Sector 10 and lives with his wife.

Delhi: The caller said that his two children, who live abroad, would also be targeted if didn't pay the money. (Representational)

The Delhi police's cyber cell has filed an FIR. The police have so far frozen ₹60 lakh.

A police officer told PTI that they suspect that the extortion was carried out by callers from abroad but their associates in India helped them obtain information about the victim.

A dedicated team of police and cyber experts has been tasked with recovering the money.

How the man was duped?

The retired engineer received a call about a parcel from Taiwan. The caller told the man that the parcel with his name on it was intercepted at the Mumbai airport.

He told the man that drugs were found inside the parcel. The caller further said that the Mumbai Police Crime Branch officials would talk to him.

According to the complaint, the victim was told to download Skype for a video call.

The police said he was forced to stay on digital arrest for eight hours. The cyber thugs then forced him to transfer ₹10.3 crore to several accounts.

The man later told his family about the crime.

"During the video call, he was kept on digital arrest for at least eight hours and the accused allegedly forced him to transfer ₹10.3 crore to separate accounts. Later, he informed his family members about it," the officer said.

The victim's family members approached police in the first week of October.

The caller said that his two children, who live abroad, would also be targeted if didn't pay the money.

With inputs from PTI