In a chilling case of cybercrime, a 76-year-old woman from Noida was allegedly forced into a “digital arrest” lasting nearly three weeks, during which she was conned out of ₹44 lakh.
Police said the elderly resident of Sector 41, identified as Sarla Devi, was first drawn into the trap on July 18 when she received a call from someone claiming to be a telecom executive. What began as a routine query about the misuse of her phone number soon escalated into a nightmare.
The callers, later joined by a man posing as a senior Mumbai Crime Branch officer on video chat, accused her of running bank accounts linked to drug cartels, hawala channels, online gambling syndicates, and even terror funding. They warned her that an arrest warrant was already in motion and that she could avoid immediate detention only by cooperating fully.
Under constant intimidation and surveillance through video calls, the woman was made to remain indoors and cut off from her family between July 20 and August 13. During this time, she was compelled to make multiple online transfers, draining her savings in eight separate transactions. Investigators said the fraudsters even tried pushing her to borrow money to send further amounts.
The gang, suspected to be operating out of Cambodia, eventually severed contact after extracting the funds. It was only then that the victim approached the police.
A case has now been registered at Sector 24 police station under charges of cheating and cybercrime. The trail of bank transfers is being examined to identify local operatives who may have helped move the money.
