A senior woman doctor in Gujarat's Gandhinagar was subjected to 'digital arrest' for more than three months, forcing her to break fixed deposits, take loans, and be blackmailed into paying more than Rs 19 crore to fraudsters, police discovered. Police have made one arrest in this case and are working to recover the funds that have been siphoned off through 30-odd accounts.
Key Highlights
- A Gandhinagar doctor was held in 'digital arrest' for 103 days, losing ₹19.24 crore in scam.
- Fraudsters impersonated telecom and law officials, coerced asset liquidation, staged video surveillance during cyber extortion.
How Doctor Was Trapped
The doctor stated in her complaint, filed last week, that it all started with a phone call she received in March. The scammers used multiple methods to target the doctor and persuade her that she was in trouble. A female caller identified herself as Jyoti Vishwanath from the Telecommunications Department, while another identified himself as Sub-Inspector Mohan Singh. Three other callers identified themselves as public prosecutors Deepak Saini and Venkateshwar, and notary Pawan Kumar.
All of these callers informed the elderly doctor that objectionable messages were being sent from her phone number. They persuaded the doctor to share her Aadhaar card, then claimed her account had been used for money laundering. The doctor was perplexed by the multifaceted approach, and she suspected she was in serious trouble. This was accomplished via multiple rounds of WhatsApp audio and video calls.
To draw her deeper into the scam, the scammers sent her a document with forged Enforcement Directorate letterhead, claiming that she had been charged under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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The Blackmail
Between March 15 and June 25, the doctor received several video calls and was informed that she was being watched by cops in plainclothes. She was asked to provide details about her property and investments so that the charges against her could be investigated.
She was instructed to maintain regular contact via video calls and to always share her current location. Even when she traveled to Surat for her nephew's wedding, she needed to stay in touch. Any deviation, she was warned, would influence the investigation against her.
Then came the big demand: the scammers informed the doctor that her total assets amounted to nearly Rs 20 crore and that they needed to be held in some accounts pending investigation. To back up this claim, forged documents were shared via WhatsApp. The doctor, now convinced that she was being investigated, liquidated fixed deposits, sold gold ornaments, offloaded shares, and transferred over Rs 19 crore into 30 or so accounts, the details of which were shared by the scammers. She was assured that they would be returned following the investigation. After months of believing she was under 'digital arrest', the doctor realised she had been duped and approached police.
Police Action So Far
Police have arrested one of the suspects, Lalji Jayantibhai Baldaniya, whose account was used to siphon money, and are searching for the others. Dharmendra Sharma, Superintendent of Police for the CID cyber cell, stated that the focus is on identifying the individuals whose accounts were used to siphon off the money, as well as the scammers who blackmailed the doctor and forced her to transfer the massive amount. "The usual tactic in such cases is to inform the victims that their phone number has been used to share pornographic material, drug peddling, or money laundering," Sharma explained.
According to police sources, there is also a link with Cambodia. Cambodian cybercrime syndicates have gained notoriety in recent years for using fake call centers to target Indian nationals. According to reports, a recent analysis by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, which is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, found that Indians lose Rs 1,000 crore per month to cyber frauds originating in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.
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