Alert man acts swiftly, saves his Rs 8.5 lakh

Hyderabad:An alert senior citizen, victim of a cyber extortion and digital arrest attempt, boldly faced the fraudsters and saved his money of `8.5 lakh. Penchikal Raghunandar Reddy, an 81-year-old resident of Banjara Hills, thwarted a cyber fraud attempt with timely action and courage, police said.

According to police, Raghunandar Reddy met one Shankar Kumar at a Filmnagar supermarket years ago. Kumar later contacted him and claimed that he had Ayurvedic medicine for prostate cancer.

On December 4, Raghunandar Reddy was taken to a shop in West Marredpally by another man, Shankar Yadav, where he was introduced to an unidentified individual promoting herbal medicine costing `9,26,820.

Raghunandar Reddy initially paid ₹76,800 in cash and issued a cheque for the remaining Rs 8,50,020. However, suspecting fraud, he quickly went to the bank and cancelled the cheque, said K.M. Raghavendra, SHO of Banjara Hills.

The next day, Raghunandar Reddy received multiple calls from cybercriminals posing as Delhi police. They falsely accused him of involvement in a contraband case and demanded `1 lakh, threatening him not to leave his house. Instead, Raghunandar Reddy left his home and complained to the Banjara Hills police. The Banjara Hills cyber cell teams are further probing the incident.