KOCHI: The Ernakulam Rural Police has nabbed the kingpin of a gang of digital fraudsters involved in several cases. Manothosh Biswas, 46, a native of Kolkata, was arrested by the police from Bengaluru. The gang embezzled more than `1.5 crore over the past two months from Kerala, the police said.
“Out of `1.5 crore, around `85 lakh was looted from the account of a Muvattupuzha resident. In Thrissur, the gang claimed `83.75 lakh from the accounts of three persons,” said K Karthik, District Police Chief (Rural), who set up a trap to nab the Kolkata native.The gang operated by hacking into the bank accounts of those who had enabled internet banking, the police said.
“After identifying the user ID and password, their next goal is to get a duplicate mobile number of the bank account holder. For this, a member of the group will visit Kerala and produce a fake Aadhaar card and voter ID to get a duplicate SIM card. They loot money through online transactions with the OTP they receive using the duplicate SIM card,” Karthik said.
While the duplicate SIM card of the Muvattupuzha resident was purchased through two BSNL offices in Thiruvananthapuram, the duplicate SIM card of the Thrissur resident was purchased from a mobile office in Aluva. The group withdrew `85 lakh in five days and deposited it in four bank accounts in Kolkata. The accused was nabbed after a days-long investigation.
“The gang, which had carried out frauds in various parts of the country, was preparing for a major operation in Bengaluru. There are indications that the gang looted money from several bank accounts in Kerala,” the officer added.