Bengaluru woman's accounts drained of Rs 24 crore over 5-month-long digital arrest

Posing as law enforcement officials investigating a fictitious money laundering case, the fraudsters subjected her to intense psychological pressure between January and May, progressively extracting Rs 24 crore.

In Short

• Scammers targeted her after learning about recent high-value property proceeds
• They impersonated law enforcement and invoked a fake money laundering probe
• Psychological pressure continued from January to May as transfers steadily increased

In what is believed to be Karnataka's largest digital arrest scam, an elderly Bengaluru woman was allegedly swindled of Rs 24 crore after fraudsters placed her under a digital arrest for five months.

The woman, Lakshmi Ramamurthy, a resident of Bengaluru, was targeted after scammers learned she had recently received substantial funds from property transactions. Posing as law enforcement officials investigating a fictitious money laundering case, the fraudsters subjected her to intense psychological pressure between January and May, progressively extracting Rs 24 crore.

The racket was uncovered when Ramamurthy visited the ICICI Bank Cantonment Branch to mortgage 1.3 kg of gold jewellery to raise more cash. Suspecting foul play, the bank manager immediately alerted the police, preventing further loss.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) Cyber Police intervened, questioned the woman, and later informed her children who reside abroad. Thus far, investigators have arrested five suspects from Mumbai, Allahabad, and Delhi, including Gaurav Kumar and Om Prakash Rajput. Police have frozen bank accounts containing Rs 60 lakh and traced the stolen money across 22 different accounts as further investigation continues.

- Ends