Elderly couple duped of 1.07cr in digital arrest

Rajkot: An elderly couple from Kutch was allegedly duped of Rs 1.07 crore by cyber fraudsters who kept them under "digital arrest" for nearly a month by threatening them with arrest in a money laundering case.Police said the victims, Daniel (85) and his wife Maryam (83), were forced to remain on continuous video calls and were not allowed to switch off their cameras. The couple is the parents of a 51-year-old printing press owner, Romy Daniel, who lodged a complaint with the Cybercrime police station, Kutch East (Gandhidham).According to the complaint, the accused impersonated officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch, the CBI and the court, and claimed a money laundering case had been registered against Daniel. To win their trust, the fraudsters sent forged documents on WhatsApp, including purported court orders, arrest warrants and papers bearing what appeared to be Supreme Court seals.The accused allegedly assured the couple they would not be arrested if they cooperated and claimed that money had to be deposited with the govt for "verification". Between Dec 31 and Jan 28, the couple was made to transfer money to multiple bank accounts through RTGS and NEFT transactions, resulting in a total loss of over Rs 1.07 crore.