KOCHI: Kerala Police have arrested a 54-year-old school teacher from West Bengal in connection with a cyber fraud case where a company based in Kochi's Infopark lost over Rs 1 crore last year.
The accused, Sulapa Mishra Chatterjee, hails from Jhalda Village in Purulia district and was employed at a government girls' high school in her locality.
The incident occurred in October last year when the company was duped into transferring Rs 1.05 crore to a fraudster impersonating an officer of another company supplying raw materials.
The Infopark police, investigating the case, discovered that the funds were withdrawn using the bank account and debit cards of Sulapa.
On Tuesday, a team from Infopark Police travelled to Jhalda village, a remote area, and apprehended Sulapa with the assistance of West Bengal police, despite resistance from locals.
During interrogation, Sulapa revealed that her bank accounts, debit cards, and SIM cards were handed over to a person she befriended on Facebook. "He posed as a popular singer and chatted with me for several months using a fake social media account," she claimed.
Without realising the impersonation, she allowed the individual to use her personal financial tools, which were subsequently utilised for fraudulent activities.
She was produced before a court in West Bengal on Wednesday, and following the issuance of a transit warrant, she was brought to the Infopark police station in Kochi on Thursday. Police are continuing their investigation to identify the person who exploited the teacher’s accounts. Sulapa has since been remanded in judicial custody.