Noida: Two cyber thugs held over Rs 2.67 cr fraud with senior citizen after nearly 30 months of complaint

The Noida Police has arrested two people, allegedly involved in duping a senior citizen of Rs 2.67 crore on the pretext of renewing his life insurance policy, almost two-and-a-half-year after the case was lodged, officials said on Monday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ashutosh Dwivedi said the complainant worked in an eminent private company and had retired in 2005. He currently lives in Vasant Kunj in Delhi. "In 2020, the complainant got a phone call from an unknown person who informed him that his insurance policy has lapsed and he would have to pay some money if he wanted the policy renewed. Eventually, the complainant ended up paying Rs 2.67 crore in multiple accounts in lieu of policy renewal assurance," Dwivedi said.

The complainant's daughter had lodged a complaint on behalf of the senior citizen after which an FIR was lodged at the Sector 20 police station here under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (fraud), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (act done by several persons) as well as the IT Act and investigation launched. "During the probe, it was found that multiple SIM cards were used in the crime and most of them were procured using forged identity cards. It took the police a lot of time to trail the miscreants but eventually they were traced and two of them have been arrested now," Dwivedi said.

Those held have been identified as Karunesh Dwivedi and Anil Sharma, he said, adding the names of five more of their associates have come to light during preliminary investigation and searches have been launched to nab them, too. Six bank accounts linked to the accused have been found and legalese initiated to freeze them, the additional DCP said.

The police said the duped money is yet to be recovered. "The financial trail and other details of how the money was used is yet to be ascertained," Dwivedi said.

Noting that a major case involving a senior citizen has been cracked, the police officer urged people to be cautious of cyber thugs. "If anyone gets a phone call from an unknown person offering benefits on pretext of insurance policy renewal or by any other means, please have it checked with your banks before initiating any financial transaction in order to dodge cyber thugs," Dwivedi said.

The police have also urged people to use the dedicated helpline 1930 or 112 to report any cyber offense.

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