Belagavi: An elderly couple died by suicide in Karnataka’s Belagavi after falling prey to cyber fraud. The couple reportedly lost Rs 50 lakh to fraudsters. The deceased have been identified as 81-year-old DS Nazareth and his wife 79-year-old Flaviana Nazareth. Both ended their lives on Thursday.
The couple left behind a suicide note in which the duo mentioned the cyber fraud. DS Nazareth received messages from an unknown person about his ID card being misused by other cybercriminals and he must contact the crime branch, reported News18 quoting police officials.
As per Belagavi SP Bheemashankar Guled, the couple might have been threatened by ‘crime branch’ officials as mentioned by the person who called DS Nazareth. “According to messages accessed from Nazareth’s phone, the cybercriminals asked him to contact the crime branch and he complied. Prima facie, it appears that these ‘crime branch’ people threatened the couple and extorted more money out of them,” Guled told the media house.
In the suicide note, the couple mentioned that they owed several lakhs to others. DS Nazareth further mentioned that the jewellery his wife owned by his wife should be sold to repay the loan they had taken.
A case has been registered by the Nandagada Police under the IT Act. The police also registered abetment to suicide case on the basis of the names mentioned in the death note., reported News18. A detailed investigation has been launched into the matter.
