Barpeta (Assam), November 10 (H.S): Barpeta Police have arrested three alleged cyber criminals and seized four bank account passbooks, seven debit cards and three mobile phones from their possession.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mozammil, Hamidul Khan and Majidur Rahman, all residents of Damaljhar village under Barpeta Sadar Police Station.

According to police, the accused allegedly duped a woman customer of nearly ₹1 lakh by luring her with a promise of a refund for an online purchase. Following a complaint, police launched an investigation and arrested the three accused after tracing the bank accounts through which the money had been transferred.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch), Barpeta, Samiran Baishya said the accused were part of a larger cybercrime network operating in the district. He said members of the racket were allegedly renting bank accounts from people and using them to receive money obtained through online fraud before withdrawing it.

Baishya said that on October 28, the wife of DPC's director and writer-journalist Diganta Das cancelled an online order for a product of the FirstCry brand. While attempting to obtain a refund, she fell victim to a cyber fraudster posing as a customer care representative of FirstCry.

The fraudster allegedly misled the woman and withdrew nearly ₹1 lakh from her bank account within just five seconds.

Following the complaint, Barpeta Police traced the bank accounts involved in the money transfer and arrested the three accused. Further investigation and interrogation are underway to identify other members of the network.

The police have also warned that knowingly renting out bank accounts to cybercriminals can facilitate large-scale financial fraud.-------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash