New Delhi: Around noon on 24 December, Dr Indira Taneja received a call from a person claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
“I was told my phone connection will be disconnected in two days because obscene content was being sent from the number and that there were 25 complaints against the number,” Dr Taneja, who runs a trust with her husband, Dr Om Taneja, providing healthcare services, health education, and supplementary nutritional support to the marginalised children and adolescent in rural areas.
The doctor-couple returned from the US in 2016, and have been running the trust there.
As she rejected the caller’s claims and also told them that the said number did not belong to her, the impersonator issued another threat, now accusing them of money laundering.
“They said my number was used in a money laundering case linked to a fraud related to the defence establishment and Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, and that it (the number) was linked to a case at the Colaba Police station,” she said.
Goyal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering investigation into the alleged diversion of funds from the now-defunct Jet Airways.
The conversation between the caller and the doctor-couple shifted to a video call. A person appeared on the screen, introducing himself as “IPS Vikrant Singh Rajput” from Colaba police station in Mumbai, and levelling charges of money laundering.
That was the beginning of the couple’s over two-week ordeal during which they were held hostage in their home through these threats, and allowed to leave home only to transfer money to the fraudsters. Between 24 December and 9 January, they were duped of Rs 14.85 crore.
After they called the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) helpline at 1930, which referred the matter to the Delhi Police. The Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations of the Delhi Police Special Cell registered a case and initiated a probe.
Joint Commissioner of Police Rajnish Gupta said a probe has been launched to track the flow of funds duped from the complainants and to arrest the perpetrators who hatched the conspiracy.
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‘Don’t let anybody know’
Dr Indira Taneja said that the impersonator first asked her to come to Mumbai to respond to an arrest warrant. However, she expressed an inability to do so, citing the ill health of her husband and no one else beyond the two in their house in Delhi’s Greater Kailash area.
“As I refused to the demand of appearing before them in Mumbai and resisted the allegations that my bank account was used in money laundering, I was told that my thumb impression and other biometric data used in the fraud were with the Mumbai branch,” Dr Taneja explained further, while speaking to ThePrint.
She said the impersonator threatened her again, moving on to a different story.
They now claimed the “fraud” was linked to defence establishments “I responded, saying I had come back only because we love India and we shall do this fraud?” she further said.
As she rejected the allegations, the impersonator first asked her to write a letter to the Supreme Court of India explaining her inability to travel to Mumbai and offered a “simple option” of account verification to avoid further hassle.
She further said whe her driver walked in once while the couple was on a call, they were asked not to reveal anything about the call to anyone. “Don’t let anybody know. It’s a big case. If you go out of the home, Naresh Goyal will get to know,” she further said.
‘8 transactions, appearance before SC’
The first demand was for about Rs 2 crore. The fraudsters told them they should transfer the money to a bank account, and if the bank inquired about it, they should say they were giving funds to a friend as a loan.
After this, they made a series of payments to the fraudsters under coercion between 26 December and 9 January, totalling Rs 14.85 crore.
Dr Indira Taneja said they were also required to appear before the Supreme Court virtually, where a person impersonating a judge rebuked the police in the video for being “friendly” with the couple.
The realisation that the have been duped hit the couple on Friday, when the impersonators demanded Rs 50 lakh to clear Dr Om Taneja’s name.
“We were asked for Rs 50 lakh more to completely release us from the case. Even after disagreement, I paid the amount and tried to call back at the number by the evening of 8 January,” she further said.
Dr Taneja said that after the process, the impersonators stated that all funds would be released by the Reserve Bank of India under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and asked us to approach a police station.
When the couple contacted the GK police station to request a refund, police personnel were unable to understand the issue and referred them to the SHO.
“As soon as the SHO took our phone, the person who negotiated with us before disappeared, and a different person appeared over the call and started abusing us, including the SHO, prompting the registration of an FIR,” she further said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)