A retired banker in Delhi, a man who had once been the gatekeeper of other people’s money, was held hostage without chains, without a cell. His phone was his prison. His jailers were faces and voices who had perfected the art of impersonating authority. For a month, he obeyed orders, sold his shares, transferred his savings, believing that he was under 'digital arrest'. By the time the spell broke, he was poorer by ₹23 crore. Robbed, not by someone holding a gun to his head. But by words, fake RBI letterheads, ‘arrest orders’ sent via WhatsApp, threats, and the invocation of unquestionable authority.

This is the new theatre of crime. The battleground is not the street, but the screen. And the casualties are quite often men and women who once taught us how to solve complex equations, balan

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