CHENNAI: The police on Monday rescued a Southern Railway official, who had locked himself in a lodge in Periamet for two days, believing the conmen who had threatened to arrest him by claiming to be ‘Mumbai Police’ and demanded that he cough up Rs 5 crore to escape arrest.
Claiming to be Mumbai Police, they called him on September 1, and told him that an arrest warrant had been issued in his name for the misappropriation of a loan for a railway project. They had convinced him to cooperate for a video conference so that they could try to clear his name of the case.
They also suggested that he should stay in a room without any disturbances from friends or family members.
“They had threatened him with arrest if he did not cooperate and that his photos would be published in the media,” a police officer explained.
The official left home without informing his family and booked a room at a lodge in Periamet, near the Southern Railway headquarters, where he stayed for two days and was on a marathon video conference call with ‘Mumbai Police’.
Meanwhile, his wife filed a missing complaint with Teynampet police, who traced him to the lodge, secured him, and learnt about the events of the past 48 hours.
Police explained to him that he was a victim of a cyber-fraud and sent him back home. Search is on for the fraudsters.