Vice Chancellor falls victim to 'digital arrest', duped of 14 lakhs by posing as ED officer, 2 accused arrested
Digital Arrest: Criminals tricked the Vice-Chancellor into transferring Rs 14 lakh to their account by telling her that she was caught in a money laundering case. So far 2 people have been arrested in this case.
Odisha's popular Berhampur University Vice Chancellor (VC) Gitanjali Das became a cyber fraud victim. The fraudsters put her under 'digital arrest' by impersonating Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers and cheated her of Rs 14 lakh. Police have arrested two individuals based in Gujarat for this.
The event occurred in February. Between February 14 and February 22, VC Gitanjali Das was regularly called and it was asserted that she was involved in a money laundering scam and she was to remit all her money for investigation purposes. In fear and confusion, Das remitted a sum of money worth Rs 14 lakh.
A few days later, fraudsters refunded Rs 80,000 to him and promised to refund him the rest once the investigation was finished. When he did not get back the money, he made a police complaint on February 24.
The police took action and arrested two accused, Bhutiya Jenil Jaisukhbhai (23) and Vishwajitsinh Gohil (21) from Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The accused were brought to Berhampur on Saturday on a five-day transit remand.
The police have recovered many important pieces of evidence including mobile phones, and Aadhar cards from the accused.
Berhampur Superintendent of Police Sarwan Vivek M said that these accused are part of a big cybercrime gang, which has committed such fraud in many parts of the country. The police have now started searching for other members of the gang and are investigating the entire money trail.
