Hyderabad: Retired doctor dies after 70 hours of digital arrest, scamsters kept sending threats even after death

A 76-year-old retired government doctor collapsed and died of a heart attack after three days of continuous harassment by cyber fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials, police said on Tuesday. The scammers extorted Rs 6.6 lakh and continued sending threats even after her death, a TOI report stated.

How the fraud began

Police said the victim, who served as chief senior resident medical officer at Mamidipudi Nagarjuna Area Hospital in Malakpet, was first contacted on September 5 through WhatsApp video calls from the number 765******2. The profile displayed the Bengaluru police logo.

The callers showed forged documents carrying seals of the Supreme Court, Enforcement Directorate, and Reserve Bank of India. They accused her of human trafficking and threatened to arrest her under the National Security Act if she failed to transfer money.

Extortion of Rs 6.6 lakh

On September 6, the doctor, frightened by the threats, transferred Rs 6.6 lakh from her Union Bank pension account to an ICICI Bank account linked to a shell entity in Maharashtra.

Police said the harassment continued even after the payment. Another number, 983*04, saved in her phone as “Jaishankar Sir”, sent more threats, fake court notices, and repeated video calls.

Collapse and death

On September 8, after nearly 70 hours of intimidation, the doctor collapsed at her Madhura Nagar residence with chest pain. She was first taken to Raja Nursing Home in Yousufguda and then shifted to Apollo Spectra Clinic in Ameerpet, where she died at 12.30 pm.

Her son informed police that the family came to know about the full extent of the harassment only after her funeral on September 9.

Messages continued after death

“The scammers continued sending messages even after her death,” a police official quoted the complainant as saying. “They sent the last message saying ‘good morning’ on Sept 10.”

Hyderabad cybercrime police have registered a case under the IT Act and sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Investigators are examining phone records and tracing the bank accounts used in the crime.