Pramesh S Jain
Posing as officials from Mumbai cyber crime department,conmen dupe Dr.Preethi,wife of BJP,MP, Dr.K Sudhakar and made away with ₹14 lakh on August 26.
Based on the complaint the west division cyber crime police have registered a case against unknown person charging him under IT act and also under section 319 ( cheating by impersonation ) for further investigation.
Dr.Preethi,in her complaint said that the accused posing as officer with Mumbai cyber crime department called to inform her that her personal ID has been misused by a person identified as Sajjad Khan.
He used her ID to avail credit card to make illegal transactions to use it for illegal activities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
He further said that the police have already arrested Sajjad Khan and shared his photo of arrest with Dr. Preethi to make her believe him.
He even connected the whatsapp call to another person posing as senior officer who advised her to cooperate with the investigation to prove her innocence .
He said that as part of the investigations,the police need to access her account to check any money laundering and illegal transactions citing RBI guidelines.
He persuaded Dr.Preethi to transfer all the money to the accused account through RTGS with an assurance to revert back the money after 45 minutes after verification.
Trusting them Dr.Preethi followed their instructions and later found that she has been duped .
Realising she had been duped, Preethi approached the West Division Cyber Crime Police Station the same evening.
Acting within the “golden hour,” investigators helped her register the case on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal helpline 1930 and immediately froze the recipient account.
On September 3,the 47th ACJM Court directed Yes Bank to return the frozen funds.The entire amount was credited back to her account within a week.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West)Girish S and Assistant Commissioner of Police (West CEN) Umarani S led the operation.
Bengaluru police have urged the public to act quickly in similar situations by calling the NCRP helpline 1930 and lodging a complaint without delay to maximise the chances of recovering lost money.
