Constable Ashraf helps retd official get back his life savings from cyber crook

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

Displaying an exceptional presence of mind, a constable from the Cyber Economics and Narcotics crime (CEN) police station in the city recovered the life savings of a former Lokayukta official who had been siphoned off recently. GV Deshpande, a resident of Koramangala and a retired Deputy Registrar of Enquiries, Lokayukta, lost his savings on Sunday to cyber crooks who had called him in pretext of updating his KYC documents. In a few minutes, the official realised that the entire money had been withdrawn from his account.

Shocked, he rushed to the CEN police of the South-East division in the city. However, as it was Sunday, the station had skeletal staff, but to his luck, constable Ashraf Sab Pinjaar, who was on holiday, had come to the station for some work. Taking up the case, Ashraf identified the golden hour and called the nodal officer of Canara Bank with a request to block the victim's account and stop the latest transaction.

The nodal officer, who was also on a holiday and had been to his hometown in Rajasthan, agreed to help and after taking down the details of the account, freezed it and reverted that transaction. Appreciating the quick action taken by the constable, DCP South-East CK Baba felicitated officer Ashraf with a reward and certificate.

Reacting to the case, the DCP urged people to know that no bank will call its customers for KYC update or to get the bank details. Even if people get cheated by chance, they should alert the police station or the control room immediately. The golden hour is applicable to the police to act swiftly on cyber crimes and to freeze the account, he said.