The Bidhannagar Cybercrime Police have arrested three youths from Odisha for duping a 68-year-old retired Coal India employee of Rs1.1 crore after placing him under a four-day-long “digital arrest” in July.
The accused, Akash Kumar Nath (19), Nilkantha Nayak (19), and Manoranjan Parida (26)—all residents of Jagatsinghpur, Odisha—allegedly called the victim at his Dumdum Park residence, initially posing as officials from a telecom regulatory authority. They falsely claimed that a mobile number registered in his name was being used for illegal activities.
The call was then transferred to individuals impersonating Mumbai Police officials, who forced the man into a WhatsApp video call, alleging that he operated a Canara Bank account in Mumbai linked to the Naresh Goyal fraud case. The frightened senior citizen was coerced into transferring Rs1.1 crore—his retirement savings—across multiple bank accounts between July 10 and 16, believing it was payment towards court fees.
The scam came to light when the criminals pressured him to take a gold loan. When he asked his wife to sell her gold, she insisted he verify the matter. On rechecking, he discovered that the website link shared by the scammers was fake, prompting him to alert authorities.
Police later tracked and arrested the three perpetrators from Odisha, bringing an end to the elaborate digital arrest scheme.
