Former scribe duped of Rs 2.36 cr by 'fake' CBI officers threatening arrest in Delhi

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) A 79-year-old former journalist was duped of Rs 2.36 crore by a group of fraudsters who posed as CBI officers and threatened her with arrest in a money laundering case in Delhi’s Hauz Khas area, officials said on Thursday.
    The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police’s Special Cell registered an FIR in the matter on April 5, following a complaint lodged by the former freelance journalist, wife of an IAS officer who passed away.
    The woman transferred Rs 2.36 crore after receiving a fake warrant from the “Central Bureau of Investigation” (CBI).
    The woman living in Hauz Khas for the past 25 years with her differently-abled daughter received a series of calls late February from individuals identifying as CBI officers, the FIR said.
    The callers, who went by the names Rajeev Ranjan, Rahul Gupta, Rajeev Sinha and Vijay, allegedly told her that she was under investigation in a money laundering case.
    “I was shocked and scared. I haven’t done anything wrong in my entire life. I was scared after reading the warrant and the subsequent threats to arrest me,” the woman was quoted as saying in the FIR.
    The accused intimidated the victim into transferring her entire savings to bank accounts, which they claimed were “government-controlled”, on the pretext that they would return the money once the case was solved, the FIR said.
    The victim said she was desperate to avoid arrest and was concerned about the well-being of her dependent daughter.
Acting under duress, she liquidated her fixed deposits and transferred Rs 2.36 crore through RTGS to three different bank accounts, details of which were provided by the fraudsters between February 28 and March 4.
    She transferred Rs 1.41 crore on March 1, Rs 81.35 lakh on March 3, and Rs 13 lakh on March 4, according to the FIR.
    “I have lost all my husband's savings in this fraud. I am left with no money or savings. Being a widow, I am in serious trouble with no support around,” the victim said in the FIR. PTI SSJ
    Police registered the case under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 204 (personating a public servant), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)