Ludhiana, Sept 22 (PTI) An industrialist was duped of Rs 1.01 crore by fraudsters, police said on Sunday.
Rajnish Ahuja, a resident of Sarabha Nagar and owner of an auto parts manufacturing unit, got a WhatsApp call and the caller introduced himself as a Delhi airport official, they said.
Ahuja was told that a courier dispatched by him containing 16 passports and 58 ATM cards was seized at the Delhi international airport and a person, Sanjay Singh was nabbed with the courier at the airport.
The caller claimed that Sanjay Singh had admitted that Rs 38 crore received as an extortion amount from someone was deposited in the bank account of Ahuja, the police said.
When Ahuja denied having sent any package, the caller said that his ID may have been misused to send the parcel and the case was being transferred to the Delhi Police.
The police said that after a few minutes, the victim received a call from another number and the caller identified himself as Sunil Kumar from the Delhi Police.
The caller told Ahuja that his arrest warrant had been issued and he would be arrested for sending the courier and receiving extortion money in his bank account.
A fake arrest warrant was also sent to Ahuja to intimidate and blackmail him, the police said.
Fearing any legal action, Ahuja transferred Rs 86 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, respectively, to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
The victim, thereafter, received another call from a new number and the caller identified himself as a CBI official.
Ahuja was told that he had been found innocent and the money would be returned.
However, he did not get his money back, the police said.
After receiving the complaint, the cyber police seized the bank accounts to which the victim had sent money and a case has been registered.