Bhubaneswar: A Baleshwar resident was among seven people arrested by the West Bengal Police for allegedly operating a major cyber fraud racket from Ranibandh in Bankura district of West Bengal, with investigators estimating the total amount involved in the crime at around Rs 72 crore.
Bankura district police superintendent V G Satish said on Monday that the seven accused were arrested after police busted the racket operating from the forested Ranibandh area.
The accused have been identified as Pintu Mandi, Arshal Soren, Debabrata Pal, Sovan Soren, Dibyendu Malik, Avinash Mandi and Deepak Sardar. Pal is a resident of Baleshwar in neighbouring Odisha.
“Initial investigation suggests that the total amount involved in the crime is to the tune of Rs 72 crore. Our officers are currently interrogating the accused to gather information about the kingpins behind the racket,” Satish said.
Ranibandh was recently identified as a potential cybercrime hotspot on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, following which the Bankura Police intensified surveillance in the area using modern investigation techniques.
Satish said police relied on four key factors — data analytics, bank account tracing, transaction trail analysis and criminal linkage — to identify the suspects.
Investigators tracked the money trail through bank accounts into which victims’ money had been deposited. They examined subsequent transfers, studied the time gap between deposits and withdrawals, and identified ATMs that were frequently used to withdraw the money.
“All these proved to be important clues,” Satish said.
During the operation, police seized 34 bank passbooks, 13 ATM cards and nine cheque books. Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and EPIC cards were also recovered from the accused.
Investigators suspect that the seven arrested persons were operating as low-level members of a larger pan-India cyber fraud network. Police are now questioning them to establish the identity and role of the alleged masterminds behind the racket.
The arrests come amid growing concern over cyber fraud in the region. At a recent Kolkata Police programme, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said cybercrime complaints were increasing and that several victims had lost their savings.
In July, the Kolkata Police also launched a month-long cybercrime awareness campaign across the city, covering 120 locations under 60 police stations, to educate people about different forms of online fraud.
