The police have arrested the prime accused in the tragic cyber fraud case that pushed an elderly couple in Karnataka’s Belagavi district to take their own lives. The accused, Chirag Jeevarajbhai Lakkad, was nabbed from Surat, Gujarat, less than a month after he and his accomplices allegedly swindled Rs 50 lakh from the couple through an elaborate impersonation scam.
The arrest was made following an intense investigation by the Cyber, Economic and Narcotics Crime (CEN) Police. Lakkad, part of a larger cyber fraud syndicate, posed as a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer and extorted money from 82-year-old Diogjeron Santan Nazareth and his 79-year-old wife Flaviana through video calls.
Authorities traced at least Rs 6 lakh directly to Lakkad’s account, with additional funds funneled through multiple other accounts used in the scam.
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On March 27, the couple was found dead at their residence in Khanapur, Belagavi. A heartbreaking two-page handwritten suicide note by Diogjeron revealed the mental torment they endured. He named two individuals — Sumit Birra and Anil Yadav — who introduced themselves as government officials investigating alleged misuse of a SIM card registered in Diogjeron’s name.
The note details how Birra, claiming to be from the telecom department in New Delhi, accused Diogjeron of criminal misuse of the SIM card. The call was then transferred to Yadav, who pretended to be from the Crime Branch and demanded sensitive financial and property details under threat of legal action.
Terrified and convinced of the threats, the elderly man transferred over Rs 50 lakh to the fraudsters. He even took a gold loan of Rs 7.15 lakh and borrowed money from friends to meet their ever-growing demands. In a final, heartbreaking gesture, Diogjeron requested that his debts be cleared by selling his wife’s gold ornaments, and expressed a wish for their bodies to be donated for medical research.
The CEN police have booked Lakkad under multiple sections, including online fraud and abetment to suicide. Investigations are ongoing to trace other members of the cybercrime network involved in this deeply disturbing case.