'Will implicate you in Pulwama attack case': Elderly couple duped of Rs 42 lakh

A retired Food Corporation of India (FCI) employee and his wife in Lucknow were allegedly duped of Rs 42.09 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as officers and threatened to implicate them in a case linked to the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, police said.The 70-year-old man and his wife were kept under “digital arrest” by scamsters for around 18 days through WhatsApp video calls. The fraudsters – who posed as ATS, NIA and CBI officers – allegedly accessed details of their bank accounts, fixed deposits, post office savings and jewellery.The man, Ansar Jamal Abbasi, received a WhatsApp call around 1:32 pm on July 23. He claimed that terrorists arrested in connection with the Pulwama attack had named a person called Manish Goyal. The fraudster then allegedly told Abbasi that a SIM card, ICICI Bank ATM card and bank statement had been found in his name during the investigation, according to police.The callers allegedly told the elderly couple that, given their age and the woman's disability, they would not be arrested but would instead be implicated by placing them under “house arrest”. They were instructed to remain on video calls for 24 hours a day and threatened with seven years in prison and immediate arrest if they informed relatives or anyone else, police said. Terrified by the threats, the couple allegedly shared details of their bank accounts, fixed deposits, post office deposits and the wife's jewellery. Around 10 minutes later, another caller allegedly contacted them and introduced himself as an officer of the Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).On July 24, the fraudsters allegedly arranged another video call in which they posed as a CBI officer and a High Court judge. They told the couple that the case and bail process would be completed after the interaction. Over the next 18 days, the accused allegedly instructed the couple to transfer money to different bank accounts through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). A total of Rs 42,09,869 was transferred in six transactions, police said.The fraud came to light when Abbasi realised that he had been duped and approached the Cyber Crime Police Station. Inspector Cyber Crime Alok Rao said a case had been registered and investigators were examining the transaction chain.Police are probing the bank accounts through which the money was routed and trying to identify those involved in the digital arrest scam.- EndsPublished By: Prateek ChakrabortyPublished On: Aug 18, 2026 08:17 IST