KOLKATA: The Kolkata Police on July 27 arrested four persons for duping a businessman of lakhs of rupees faking the website of a private bank.
The four accused, namely, Mohammad Arif Khan (26), Raja Hati (28), Mohammad Ahsan Ali (21) and Vikas Kumar (24) are associated with a Jamtara Gang in Jharkhand, police said. Of them, while three are residents of Kolkata, Vikas is originally a resident of Dumka, Jharkhand.
The police have also come to know that the accused persons used to buy expensive electronic equipment with the fraudulent money and sell it in Kolkata.
On July 18, Sandeep Kumar Agarwal, a young businessman of the Garden Reach area in Kolkata, filed a complaint with the Garden Reach police station.
In his complaint, Agarwal alleged that he was cheated of Rs 1,18,410 by an online fraud on July 11. Agarwal alleged that the accused had opened a fake website of Axis Bank. There was also a helpline number provided to help customers.
According to the police, Agarwal called that number. The person on the other side of the phone claimed to be the manager of a private bank. Following it, the accused also sent a link to Agarwal’s WhatsApp.
He was asked to click on the link and file a complaint. It is alleged that as soon as he clicked on the link, his mobile was hacked, and after that, Rs 1,18,410 was siphoned from his account through several transactions.
After receiving the complaint, the police launched an investigation. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was also formed.
It has found that in addition to Kolkata, the group of accused is also active in Jamtara.
The police conducted searches in different places in the city on July 26.
During the search, 39 mobiles, eight power banks, three sealed watches, a tab, two sealed Bluetooth speakers, a sealed headphone, a scooty and cash worth Rs 2.5 lakh were seized from them. According to police sources, the value of the seized items is between Rs 15 and 17 lakhs.
The arrested persons were produced in a court on July 27. The court has ordered of their police custody till August 2.