Lakshman Dhamale (55), Manager of Unity Small Finances Bank Ltd at sector 6 in Koparkhairane | File Photo
Navi Mumbai: An alert manager of a bank in Koparkhairane saved an 80 year old man from losing Rs 12 lakh Fixed Deposit amount to scamsters. Surendrakumar Rastogi, a retired officer from Nuclear Power Corporation of India was one of the latest victims of ‘digital arrest’ that has been happening rampantly in the country.
Even as he lost Rs 21.94 lakh, another Rs 12 lakh were saved because of the presence of mind of Lakshman Dhamale (55), Manager of Unity Small Finances Bank Ltd at sector 6 in Koparkhairane.
On November 13, Rastogi has received a call claiming to be from RBI which informed him that his pension was being blocked and he an arrest warrant has been issued against him. But since he is a senior citizen, he would get a chance to not get arrested and soon CBI will call him. He then got a whatsapp video call from one inspector S Lakshman from Hyderabad who claimed that they had proof that Rastogi was involved in Naresh Goyal scam.
He further claimed that Goyal was linked with Hizbul Mujahiddin terrorist org.zation and Rs 2 crore transaction was done in the name of Rastogi at Hyderabad for which a commission of Rs 20 lakh was provided to Rastogi. The caller further claimed that a case has been filed in Hyderabad against him.
“The caller then asked Rastogi the details of his investments and fixed deposits. The caller then told him that he will have to make few transactions in various accounts as they say and once he is proved innocent, all the money would be refunded,” senior police inspector Audumber Patil from Koparkhairane police station said.
The caller had also told him that he cannot disconnect the video call till all the procedures are over. Believing that he was under ‘house arrest’, Rastogi approached the banks to break his fixed deposits and transfer the amount to various bank accounts.
He started approaching various banks from November 14 and transferred a total of Rs 21.94 lakh to the scamsters. But when he reached Unity Small Finances Bank, the manager felt something amiss.
“We had informed banks that they should be cautious when a senior citizen approaches them with a request to break their FD and transfer a huge amount to someone,” Patil said.
Dhamale asked Rastogi the reason for breaking the FD and transferring Rs 12 lakh. “Rastogi was getting irritated with my questions. He claimed that it was for medical purpose and he was transferring to one Royal enterprises. The claims were mismatched. I told him that the server is down and he will transfer the amount in half an hour. The account to which the amount was to be transferred was at Yes bank and hence I wet to Yes bank to confirm the account details and I found that the account had a transaction of around Rs 3 crore in two days which was withdrawn as well. The account was reported to cyber cell and it was frozen by then,” Dhamale said.
Dhamale immediately called Rastogi to alert him and asked him to meet him but he didn’t turn up to ban and instead went to other banks and transferred around Rs 6 lakh to other accounts. Even after a day since Rastogi did not go to meet Dhamae, Dhamale approached Koparkhairane police.
“I informed the police and the police aling with me and a bank staff went to the residence of RAstogi. He was hesitant to talk as the video call was still active and he believed that he and his family was under surveillance. With a lot of coaxing, he heard us and we managed to make him believe that it is a scam,” Dhamale added.
“Being a senior citizen who was under the stress that he was under ‘house arrest’, we went to his residence in plain clothes. We showed him our police jeep outside and it took a lot to talking with hi to finally make him understand what actually happened was a scam,” police sub inspector Gajanan Takle from Koparhairane police station said. The police are now working of the leads of the case and are travelling to Uttarakhand to trace the accused.
