Days After Elderly Couple's Suicide Over Cyber Fraud, Accused Arrested

The prime accused in the cyber fraud case involving an elderly couple in Karnataka's Belagavi, which led them to die by suicide, has been arrested less than a month after he swindled Rs 50 lakh from them.

The accused Chirag Jeevarajbhai Lakkad was arrested from Gujarat's Surat after investigation by the Cyber, Economic and Narcotics Crime Police. He, along with other cyber criminals, had defrauded the elderly couple of nearly Rs 50 lakh.

Police said the accused impersonated a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer and extorted money via video calls while operating from Surat. Authorities discovered that Rs 6 lakh had been transferred to his account, with more funds routed to various other accounts.

On March 27, Diogjeron Santan Nazareth (82) and his wife Flaviana (79), residents of Belagavi's Khanapur, were found dead in their house. A two-page handwritten death note left behind by Diogjeron stated their decision to end their lives and requested that no one be blamed, as they did not want to live at the mercy of anyone, police said.

In the death note, Diogjeron named two individuals - Sumit Birra and Anil Yadav. He wrote that Birra, who claimed to be a telecom department official from New Delhi, informed him that a SIM card had been fraudulently purchased in his name and was being used for harassment and illegal advertisements. Birra later transferred the call to Yadav, who claimed to be from the Crime Branch.

Yadav demanded details of Diogjeron's property and finances, threatening legal consequences over the alleged SIM card misuse, according to the death note, police said.

Falling prey to the scam, Diogjeron transferred over Rs 50 lakh to them, but they continued to demand more, police added, citing digital transaction records. He also mentioned taking a gold loan of Rs 7.15 lakh, with interest due on June 4.

Diogjeron further stated that he had borrowed money from friends and requested that the loans be repaid by selling his wife's gold bangles and earrings. He also expressed a wish for their bodies to be donated to a medical institution for students to study.

Lakkad was arrested on charges of online fraud and abetment to suicide.