The six people arrested for allegedly defrauding the elderly woman. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)A bank manager’s presence of mind helped the Karnataka State Cyber Command (KSCC) police arrest six persons who reportedly defrauded a retired woman in Bengaluru of Rs 24 crore.The accused were arrested from different locations – N Sivagnanam from Erode in Tamil Nadu, Akkach Mallick in Mumbai, Palak Bhai Patel and Amit Narendra Patel in Ahmedabad, Om Prakash Rajput in New Delhi, and Gaurav Kumar in Bihar. The victim, Laxmi Ramamurthy, 74, is a resident of Shivajinagar in Bengaluru.According to the police, the criminals targeted Ramamurthy after she sold a piece of land for several crores a few months ago. The accused contacted her in January, posing as law enforcement officers, and falsely accused her of involvement in money laundering activities. The suspects threatened her with serious legal consequences and placed her under round-the-clock video surveillance, claiming it to be a part of the “digital arrest” procedure.“The accused had made Ramamurthy transfer money to 23 mule bank accounts in 26 transactions between February 10 and April 24,” said a police officer.The woman, who is a retired teacher and earlier worked in Dubai, lived alone in an apartment, while her children lived abroad.The police said the fraudsters manipulated the victim into believing she would be cleared only after all her finances were verified. To help in the ‘verification’ process, Ramamurthy transferred Rs 24 crore to several accounts in multiple transactions. However, as the demand for more money continued, Ramamurthy approached the bank to pledge 1kg of gold to avail a loan.Suspecting something was wrong, the bank manager asked Ramamurthy about the need for the loan, but as she hesitated to share the information, he informed the police.Story continues below this adLater, Ramamurthy narrated her ordeal to the police, who probed the matter and found that the money was being siphoned by cyber criminals.So far, the police have recovered Rs 1.60 crore of the swindled amount from 22 bank accounts, and efforts are being made to recover the rest of the amount. During the probe, the police also found out that the accused were operating from a 10×10 feet shop in Gurgaon.During the investigation, the police, with the help of the National Cyber Reporting Portal, were able to freeze several mule accounts used for laundering the proceeds of crime.