Family of 3 'digitally arrested' for 5 days, cheated of 1 crore

NOIDA: A family here was duped of over Rs 1 crore after they were kept under 'digital arrest' for five days by some unknown people who posed as government officials, police said on Monday.

According to police, they received a complaint from Chandrabhan Paliwal that he had received a call from an unknown number on February 1. The caller told the complainant that his case was with the Cyber Crime Branch of Mumbai and about 10 minutes later a person claiming to be an IPS officer made a video call to Paliwal, Yadav said.

Paliwal said that the fake police officer accused him of extorting money and said that 24 cases were registered against him at different locations. Paliwal's wife and daughter were also 'digitally arrested'. The callers threatened that if they did not pay, they would be arrested soon, the DCP said.

Yadav said the complainant had paid Rs 1.1 crore to the accused in five days. A case was registered and investigation is underway.