Fraud alert! Former CJI RM Lodha duped of Rs 1 lakh in online scam

Former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha was cheated of Rs 1 lakh by an online fraudster, who had allegedly hacked the email account of his colleague, a retired judge, a police officer said.

Lodha, who lives in south Delhi's Panchsheel Park, mentioned in his complaint that he used to regularly correspond through email with his friend and colleague, Justice (retd) BP Singh. The incident came to light when Lodha visited the office of Assistant Commissioner of Police EOW and Cyber Cell in Malviya Nagar police station to lodge an official complaint.

Chief Justice Lodha said that on April 19 he had received a mail from the email ID of BP Singh. "An immediate help of Rs 1 lakh for the treatment of his cousin brother as he (Singh) is unavailable over the phone," mentioned the mail. Lodha immediately deposited Rs 1 lakh online in two transactions at the given account number.

A senior police officer told news agency IANS that when Justice Singh regained control of his email on May 30, he sent a mail regarding the hacking of his account on April 18-19 to his contact list. "When Lodha read the email sent by BP Singh regarding his hacked email, he immediately disclosed that he was cheated and duped of Rs 1 lakh by the unknown hacker," the officer said.

Lodha approached the Delhi Police and filed a complaint on the suggestion of Singh.

A case has been registered under various sections of the IPC including cheating and the IT Act. The identity of the accused hacker is yet to be ascertained. An investigation is underway.