Led by Kolkata Police DC South East Division Shri Bhola Nath Pandey IPS,supported by Ballygunge PS and SED Cyber Cell acting swiftly rescued a scam victim and thus saved a family.
Despite staying home in the city you still stay in a hotel room. Missing diary filed in your name. But you are sitting in a hotel talking to ‘Mumbai Police’ in a video conference.
The Fear Factor
This rare incident happened On Thursday,(14th March), at approximately 11.50 pm, a missing person report was filed at Ballygunge PS. The report was filed by a lady, who stated that her husband, had left home at around 4.00 pm with important bank documents. However he had since become unreachable. His mobile phone switched off. Before leaving, he had mentioned that he was being ‘summoned for interrogation’ by Mumbai Police officials.
Acting on Kolkata Police intelligence input, a search was conducted under the supervision of DC Southeast Division (SED) Shri Bhola Nath Pandey, IPS.Shri Pandey was assisted by Ballygunge PS and Cyber Cell SED.This resulted in the gentleman being traced to a hotel on Sarat Bose Road within three hours of his wife filing the complaint. At the very moment when he was found, the ‘missing person’ was engaged in a video call with individuals purporting to be from ‘Mumbai Police’.
It was later revealed that the victim, a businessman, had received a call supposedly from a reputable courier company. He was told that a consignment in his name contained banned substances. Following which he was coerced into speaking to ‘Mumbai Police’ officers, who instructed him to vacate his residence and seek refuge in a hotel for online ‘interrogation’.
If he failed to do so, his family would be dragged into the case and his premises raided by ‘CBI’, he was also told. As proof, he was sent a document supposedly issued by the CBI. One look at it, and people will realise why it can be nothing but fake.
By the time the businessman was found, he had already handed over many of his important IDs. His Aadhar card details, PAN, and bank account details had been handed over to the scammers. Fortunately, the prompt police action prevented any financial harm from coming to him. A rare instance of prevention rather than cure.
Kolkata Police mentioned, ”Once again as we have said in the past, no government or law enforcement agency will conduct any business over a phone call or video conference without prior written intimation. If the police wish to speak to you, you can rest assured that you will be summoned in person first!”
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
