A BJP MLC in Uttar Pradesh alleges he was targeted in a sophisticated 'digital arrest' scam, prompting a police investigation into the fraudulent attempt to extract personal information
A case was registered after Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Shailendra Singh was allegedly kept under "digital arrest" for about one-and-a-half hours in Sultanpur, the police said on Thursday.
In his complaint, the member of legislative council (MLC) said he received a phone call from an unknown number on March 2, where the caller claimed to be an officer with the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and alleged that Singh's bank account was being used for money laundering and other suspicious activities.
Singh reported that the caller told him that he had an account in Canara Bank.
"I told them that I do not have any bank account outside Lucknow and Sultanpur. They kept me engaged on a video call for about one-and-a-half hours and asked me to lock myself inside a room and not speak to anyone," Singh said.
He alleged that the callers repeatedly sought details related to his Aadhaar card and bank accounts.
According to Singh, some of his associates grew suspicious and checked the phone number, and found that it was not linked to the Mumbai ATS but was registered in the name of a woman from Madhya Pradesh's Satna.
The callers allegedly disconnected the call when they sensed that their identity might be exposed.
Singh later lodged a complaint at the cyber police station in Sultanpur.
Cyber police station in-charge Akhanddev Mishra confirmed the incident and said the fraudsters had attempted to put the MLC under "digital arrest".
He said the police are tracking the phone numbers and IP addresses from which the calls were made.