Air Force veteran loses Rs17.5L in digital arrest fraud

Kanpur: Cyber fraudsters under Chakeri police jurisdiction kept an Air Force retired master warrant officer and his wife under digital arrest for three days and swindled Rs 17.5 lakh, police said. Based on a complaint lodged by the victim, Chakeri police registered a case and started searching for the accused with the help of the cyber cell. The victim, Balveer Singh, a resident of Safipur under Chakeri police station, stated that he lived with his wife Harjeet Kaur. He stated in the complaint that on Nov 13, 2025, unknown persons called him and identified themselves as officers of CBI and other govt agencies.He said they showed his Aadhaar card and alleged that it was used to open a bank in Mumbai and that illegal transactions occurred from this bank. They told him that due to his Aadhaar being used, he was fully responsible for the crimes of illegal transactions.According to the victim, he told the accused several times that he had nothing to do with the matter, but they kept him under digital arrest for three days and continuously made allegations to create pressure. The accused cyber fraudsters said that the crime branch was unable to find the real criminals, so he was being interrogated, and they also threatened arrest.During this period, the accused also took information about the family, and they called Harjeet Kaur on video call, kept monitoring continuously and kept telling her not to disconnect the phone, he said.According to the victim, the accused scared them so much that there was no permission to go to the toilet, sleep or contact any outside person. He said they showed a fake verification process and, after sending a warrant, told him that a judge would be appointed for hearing his case who would hear the case and give judgment. He said they created a prison-like atmosphere in his own house by creating pressure.He said the accused then started demanding money to settle the matter, following which he transferred Rs 12.5 lakh to their mentioned account of Shri Prakash on Nov 14.Singh said that the accused again demanded Rs 5 lakh in the name of court and lawyer fees on Nov 15, but he did not have that much amount. He said he borrowed money from a family acquaintance and deposited Rs 5 lakh cash in their mentioned account (Super Traders, account number: 0838102100001932). After this, when he tried to contact them, the accused stopped answering the phone, and he realised that it was a fraud.Station in-charge Ajay Kumar Mishra said, "A case has been registered, and the accused are being searched with the help of cyber cell."