PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE / Dehradun
The cybercrime police, Dehradun have arrested two members of an interstate cyber fraud gang from West Bengal in connection with a cyber fraud of nearly Rs 25 lakh. The accused allegedly had helped the cyber criminals by providing bank accounts, ATM cards, SIM cards and banking details used for online fraud, officials said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Tapan Biswas (45) and Uttam Kumar Das (38), both residents of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.
As per the Special Task Force (STF), a Dehradun resident lodged a complaint after cyber criminals had hacked his mobile phone and changed his email ID and mobile number. The fraudsters had then transferred about Rs 24.95 lakh from his company’s bank account.
After registering a case, the cybercrime police launched an investigation. The team collected information from banks, telecom companies and other agencies and analysed the data to trace the accused. A police team, led by the inspector Ashish Gusain, was sent to West Bengal, where two suspects were arrested from Ranaghat on June 18.
During questioning, the accused admitted that they had provided bank accounts, ATM cards and SIM cards to cyber criminals in exchange for money, STF said. Police said that they had also arranged bank accounts in the names of different people and handed over the banking documents to the fraudsters.
Police recovered 13 debit and ATM cards of different banks, three mobile phones, SIM cards, passbooks, cheque books, blank cheques and bank account opening documents from their possession.
The STF senior superintendent of police (STF), Ajai Singh said that further legal action is being taken against the accused. He added that the investigation is continuing to identify other members of the cyber fraud network and uncover the full extent of the operation.
