Fraudsters posing as Mumbai ATS sleuths extort 1.4 cr from retired bank manager

Hyderabad: Fraudsters posing as Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths allegedly extorted 1.44 crore, the life savings of a 76-year-old retired bank manager, by threatening to arrest him in a terror funding case. Based on his complaint, Cyberabad cyber crime police have booked a case on Tuesday and launched a probe to identify the offenders.The retired Canara Bank manager received a call from an unknown number at 10.30am on Jan 17. The caller claimed to be from ATS Mumbai and alleged that an FIR had been registered against him for funding terrorism.
Soon after, the call was transferred to multiple accomplices introducing themselves as ATS investigators Sulek Kumar, Mukesh Verma and Ajay Kumar Bansali, all using different mobile numbers. "They told me that my Aadhaar credentials had been misused to open multiple bank accounts linked to international terror operatives and that immediate verification of my bank accounts was essential to prove my innocence and clear my name," the victim told police.One of the fraudsters, posing as DCP Mukesh Verma, claimed that his case was pending before the Supreme Court and warned the septuagenarian not to discuss the matter with his family, search online or switch off his phone. Verma also made the victim sign an undertaking (the former manager took a print out of the document, singed it, took a photo of the document and sent it on WhatsApp) to comply with the instructions.As per the instructions of the accused, the victim had transferred 1.44 crore in 13 transactions to different bank accounts provided by the fraudsters between Jan 28 and Feb 19.As the fraudsters asked for an additional 17 lakh instead of getting a Supreme Court clearance by Feb 19 as per their initial promise, the victim realised the fraud and approached Cyberabad police on Tuesday.On his complaint, a case was registered under Sections 204 (Personating a public servant), 308(2) (Extortion punishment), 318(4) (Cheating), 319(2) (Cheating by personation), 335 (Making a false document), 338 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 336(3) (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 340(2) (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) read with 3(5) (Common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 66-C and 66-D of the Information Technology Act.