Hooghly, 30 July (H.S.): Rishra Police in Hooghly district have busted a major cyber fraud racket and arrested nine accused from different locations in the area on Wednesday. According to the police, the accused allegedly operated a fraud network on the lines of the Jamtara gang and targeted people in different parts of the country through phone calls. The investigation so far indicates that the gang allegedly defrauded people of around Rs 16.78 lakh.

On Thursday, DCP (Serampore), Chandannagar Police Commissionerate, Arnab Biswas, briefed the media about the operation at a press conference. He said Rishra Police Station Officer-in-Charge Parameshwar Pramanik received information from a confidential source about suspicious activities in NS Road, SD Mukherjee Lane and Sushila Bhawan Lane in Rishra. Acting on the information, police conducted raids and arrested nine suspects.

According to the police investigation, the accused were allegedly running an organised cyber fraud racket and contacting people in different states over the phone.

The police said the accused allegedly used several methods to dupe victims. In some cases, they allegedly told people that they had won lottery prizes and promised to transfer the prize money after receiving a commission. They also allegedly sent messages claiming that loans had been pre-approved and demanded commissions for processing the loans.

After gaining the victims' confidence, the accused allegedly obtained their documents and sent them QR codes through which they were asked to transfer the commission amount, promising that the full loan or prize money would subsequently be transferred to their accounts.

The police have recovered 21 mobile phones and credit cards from the accused. During verification through the NCRP portal, investigators have so far identified 33 links reportedly connected to cyber fraud incidents allegedly involving the gang.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mohit Pandey (Bihar), Sheikh Sagar (Andhra Pradesh), Puneet Kumar (Karnataka), Mohammed Tauseef (Rishra), Deepak Thakur (Chandannagar), Priya Ranjan Kumar Pandey (Bihar), Rahul Pandey (Ballia), Shivkumar (Bengaluru) and P. Naresh (Odisha). Police said Mohit Pandey is allegedly the kingpin of the gang.

The DCP said the racket's alleged network extends beyond West Bengal to Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha. Police will contact law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions where the accused are suspected of carrying out fraudulent activities.

The police operation is still underway. Investigators are conducting further questioning and technical analysis to identify other members of the alleged racket and establish the full extent of the cyber fraud network.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey