TIRUCHY: A police hunt is on for fraudsters who posed as Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and conned an octogenarian of Rs 13.50 lakh. The cybercrime police of Tiruvarur registered a case on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Kunjithapadam (81) from Tiruvarur received a WhatsApp call a few days ago from a person who posed as an ED official. The caller asked Kunjithapadam a few details about the latter’s bank account. Further, the caller threatened him that he had made a few illegal transactions, and an action would be initiated against him.

The shocked senior citizen, Kunjithapadam, denied the charges, but the caller and his gang continued to threaten him, urging him to pay a ‘fine’ to avoid punishment. They further threatened Kunjithapadam that the case would be transferred to the CBI and also sent a few bank account details to which the ‘fine’ amount was to be transferred.

Soon, Kunjithapadam transferred a sum of Rs 13.50 lakh. After receiving the money, he tried contacting the particular mobile number, but it remained switched off.

Frustrated over this, Kunjithapadam passed on the information to his two sons, who are working abroad. They returned to Tiruvarur and filed a complaint with the Special Branch police, who forwarded the complaint to the cybercrime police. Based on the complaint, the cybercrime police registered a case and are searching for the culprits