An elderly couple at a plush first-floor apartment in South Delhi’s Greater Kailash, one of the Capital’s most affluent localities, was getting ready to attend a charitable event at a school. Om Taneja (81) and his wife, Dr Indira Taneja (77), had attended many such events in the past, especially since 2015 when they moved back to Delhi after spending 45 years in the United States.“Both my son and daughter are settled in the US. My husband worked with the United Nations, and I was a practising dentist. Since he studied at IIT Delhi and I at Lady Hardinge, we decided that after retirement we should come back and give back to our country,” Indira told The Indian Express Sunday as she revisited a two-week-long ordeal.Recounting the events of the fateful afternoon, she said that she was just about to call their driver when she received a call — one that eventually turned out to be an alleged ‘digital arrest’ trap that made the elderly couple lose Rs 14.8 crore to fraudsters. On the other side, a man, claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), said a number registered in her name had surfaced in a money-laundering case in Mumbai.Also Read | Elderly couple in Delhi’s Greater Kailash loses Rs 14 crore in digital arrest fraud case“They told me they were disconnecting my number. I said it wasn’t even mine. The caller said he was connecting me to the Colaba police station in Mumbai,” Indira recalled.The couple, who had travelled across the world and lived a distinguished life, was left shocked and confused as they stared at the possibility of getting entangled in a criminal investigation.“I then got a video call. The caller, who identified himself as Vikrant Singh Rajput, claimed to be a police officer with the Colaba Police station. He had a police emblem behind him and was wearing a uniform. He told me that a man named Naresh Goyal had duped the Defence Ministry of Rs 500 crore, and that he had used a Canara Bank account registered in my name to launder the money,” Indira said. “I was then told that a warrant had been issued against me as a key associate of Goyal, and against my husband as a co-accused. He asked me to come to Mumbai.”Om Taneja, placing his walking stick by his side before taking a seat in the living room, recollected that they realised the trouble had got deeper. “I had just undergone surgery, and my treatment was ongoing at AIIMS. They then made us write 15 letters to different authorities explaining why we could not appear,” he said.Story continues below this adThe next day, Indira was allegedly summoned for a fake online Supreme Court hearing over a video call. Under the guise of a “verification process”, the fraudsters allegedly told the couple they needed to transfer money to accounts provided by the “police”, which would then be sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for assessment.“A man named DK Gupta joined the call, claiming to be an IPS officer. He said they had an RBI number, which I could submit to the police to get my money back after verification,” Indira said.Then came the first demand: transfer Rs 1.99 crore via the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payment system. Indira was instructed to go alone to the bank carrying her husband’s phone, while Om retained hers at home. Similar demands followed —December 29 (Rs 2 crore), December 30 (Rs 2 crore), January 2 (Rs 2.05 crore), January 5 (Rs 2.5052 crore), January 6 (Rs 2.10 crore), January 8 (Rs 2.20 crore), and January 9 (Rs 50 lakh).When questioned by bank officials, the couple were told to claim the transfers were donations to charitable trusts. “My husband was kept on a call at home and constantly monitored. I was told my life was in danger and that Goyal’s men were watching us. I couldn’t tell anyone what was happening or why I was withdrawing the money,” Indira said.Story continues below this adEven as their children called from the US and Indira’s sister — who lives just four blocks away in Greater Kailash — checked on them, the couple kept lying, hoping the ordeal would get over. “My daughter even asked me why I looked so stressed. I told her it was nothing,” Indira said.By January 9, Indira had made eight RTGS transfers, amounting to Rs 14.85 crore. That morning, around 10 am, the moment the couple had been waiting for arrived. “They said the verification was complete. They gave me the RBI number and asked me to go to the nearest police station, submit it, and collect my money. But DK Gupta stayed on the call,” Indira said, nearly out of breath as she remembered what followed.She reached the CR Park police station. The accused were brazen enough to confront the SHO, she said. “When the SHO saw the RBI number, she looked confused and asked what it meant. Hearing this, DK Gupta told someone on the call to explain it to her. I put the phone on speaker, and a man started shouting at the inspector, asking what kind of SHO she was,” Indira said.Amid the heated exchange, Indira asked about DK Gupta. “He died,” the caller quipped. “That’s when the SHO realised it was a digital arrest scam and disconnected the call,” Indira said.Story continues below this adOm Taneja said that throughout his digital confinement at home, it was not possible to tell from the callers’ voices that they were imposters. “I spoke to them at length. We discussed everything—from engineering and the environment to religion,” he said.Indira too, is yet to overcome her disbelief about what happened. “We live alone, but we are educated. They showed me images of my Aadhaar card and PAN card. It all felt too real,” she said.The couple reported the matter to the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930, and an e-FIR was lodged Saturday. The Cybercrime unit of Delhi Police has initiated an investigation.