Bengaluru police have recovered ₹14 lakh that BJP Chikkaballapura MP K. Sudhakar’s wife, Preeti, lost in a cyber fraud involving a scheme known as “digital arrest,” officials said Tuesday.
According to police, the incident took place on Aug. 26, when Preeti, 44, a resident of Basaveshwaranagar, received a WhatsApp video call from fraudsters posing as Mumbai Cyber Crime Police officials. The callers told her money had been illegally transferred from her account and demanded that she send funds to the Reserve Bank of India for “verification.” They claimed the money would be returned within 45 minutes but threatened that she would be arrested if she failed to comply.
“By threatening, they got a total of ₹14 lakh transferred from the complainant’s HDFC Bank account to an unknown YES Bank account and committed fraud,” police said in a statement.
Preeti lodged a complaint the same evening and also contacted the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal helpline number 1930 within the so-called “Golden Hour,” police said. A case was registered and investigators worked to freeze the account where the money was transferred.
On Sept. 3, the 47th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court directed YES Bank authorities to return the frozen funds to the complainant. Acting on the order, the full amount was restored to Preeti’s account.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Division) Girish S. said efforts are underway to trace the fraudsters. He urged the public not to panic in similar situations and to immediately call the cyber helpline.
“If a complaint is lodged within the Golden Hour with the National Cyber Helpline 1930, and a case is registered at the nearest police station without delay, prompt action can be taken to prevent losses,” Girish said.
Police said “digital arrest” scams have emerged as a new form of cybercrime in which fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or enforcement agencies through video calls and coerce victims into transferring money.
