A 76-year-old woman from Lake Town, Kolkata, fell victim to a cyber scam where she was held hostage by phone for two days and coerced into transferring Rs11 lakh to fraudsters. The scammers posed as police officers and threatened the woman with arrest, claiming her Aadhaar card was linked to various illegal activities.
The elderly woman, identified as Manju Ganguly, received a WhatsApp video call from an individual posing as a police officer from the Mumbai Cybercrime Branch. He claimed that her Aadhaar card had been used for criminal activities, including activating numerous SIM cards, sexual harassment, and fake gambling ads. Fearing arrest, Ganguly was tricked into transferring large sums of money to several bank accounts.
The police investigation led to the arrest of Mahesh Kumar, a 20-year-old man from Bas Kripalnagar village in Alwar, Rajasthan. Kumar was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the scam. The complaint, filed on December 24, 2024, by Ganguly, set off a thorough investigation by Bidhannagar Police.
