33-year-old Youth Chandrashekara M K from Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada District a victim of online fraud Languishing in Riyadh-Saudi Arabia for eight months
Mangaluru: A youth from Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada allegedly fell victim to online fraud, and is languishing at a jail in Riyadh Saudi Arabia for the past eight months. Chandrashekhara MK, 33, from Mujoor village in Kadaba, was arrested after hackers allegedly used his credentials to open a bank account, and thereby make an illegal transaction in Riyadh, said social activist Shridhar Gowda during a press meet held at Mangaluru Press Club.
Gowda said, “Chandrashekhara was working for Al Fanar Co. in Riyadh. A year ago, he visited a shop in Riyadh to buy a mobile phone and SIM card. The shop had taken his thumb impression twice, and thereafter he received a message in Arabic. Later, he received a call asking him to share an OTP sent to his mobile phone. Without knowing the consequences, he had shared the OTP. In November 2022, Saudi Arabian police arrested him for a banking fraud involving SAR 22,000 (approximately Rs 4.9 lakh), It was understood through his friends in Riyadh, that the fraudsters had created a bank account in Chandrashekhara’s name, using his documents”.
CHANDRASHEKARA M K
“Chandrashekhara was busy with his work, and his marriage was also fixed for January 2023. However, the police arrested him without giving him any notice. Later, his friends understood through official sources that SAR 22,000 was transferred from the bank account of a woman in Riyadh to the account that fraudsters created in Chandrashekhar’s name. The amount was immediately transferred from the account in Chandrasekhar’s name to an account in another country. Following this, the woman filed a complaint, and the police arrested him,” added Gowda.
Gowda further said, “Meanwhile Chandrashekhara’s mother Hemavathi, a widow, has been seeking help from the district administration, people’s representatives and the ministry of external affairs. Chandrashekhara’s friends in Riyadh have already spent nearly Rs 10 lakhs to appoint a lawyer and fight the case. We have plans to send appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar for his early release. Union minister Shobha Karandlaje has agreed to speak to the external affairs minister regarding the matter”.
Also speaking during the press meet, Social activist and secretary of the National Environment Care Federation (NECF), Shashidhar Shetty, said, “A social media campaign/postcard campaign will be launched seeking justice for Chandrashekhara. The government should offer free training for all those who visit foreign countries for jobs, to protect them from the threat of online fraudsters. People’s representatives of Dakshina Kannada should take initiatives to help his family.”
