A 78-year-old retired Army engineer from Bathinda allegedly lost Rs 35 lakh after fraudsters posing as Delhi Police and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials used the digital arrest scam to coerce him into transferring the money.According to a complaint lodged at the Cyber Crime police station, Ashok Kumar, a resident of Sarabha Nagar in Bathinda, received a phone call on July 13 from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be from the Delhi police headquarters and later connected him to another person who identified himself as an ATS officer.“The fraudsters falsely claimed that the victim’s Aadhaar card had been used to obtain a mobile connection linked to money laundering worth Rs 2.5 crore and that he had connections with Pakistan’s ISI and the Delhi bomb blast case. They further claimed that a case had been registered against him and that his file was being forwarded to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The victim was kept on continuous video calls by several individuals posing as ATS officers, who questioned him about his finances and assets. After learning that he had Rs 35 lakh in his bank account, the accused told him that the money had to be deposited into an alleged RBI verification account to verify his assets and clear his name,” stated the FIR.Inspector Balwinder Singh, SHO, Cyber Crime police station, said, “Believing the claims, the victim transferred Rs 35 lakh through RTGS on July 15 to a bank account provided by the fraudsters. The fraud came to light only after the accused demanded more money. The complainant then spoke to his son, who lives in the US, and realised he had fallen victim to a cyber-fraud involving the fake digital arrest tactic.”Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against unknown persons under Sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the BNS, along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.The SHO said the police were trying to trace and arrest the accused.Meanwhile, the police advised citizens not to trust callers claiming to be law enforcement officials who demand money or threaten them with digital arrest.