Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 22 Jul: Uttarakhand STF’s cyber-crime police has arrested two members of an inter‑state cyber gang from West Bengal in connection with a Rs 25 lakh cyber fraud case. The accused were found to be providing bank accounts, ATM cards, SIM cards and banking details to organised cyber criminals for fraudulent transactions. Investigations revealed that the duo played an active role in facilitating the transfer of cheated money through suspicious accounts.
It may be recalled that, in March, a Dehradun resident had lodged a complaint at the cyber crime police station stating that unknown fraudsters had hacked his mobile phone, altered his email ID and mobile number, and siphoned off nearly Rs 24.95 lakhs from his company’s bank account. Based on the complaint, a case was registered against unidentified persons. During the investigation, data analysis pointed to links in West Bengal. Acting on this lead, a police team travelled to West Bengal on 14 June and, following a tip‑off, arrested two accused, Tapan Biswas and Uttam Kumar Das, from 24 Parganas on 18 June.
From their possession, police recovered 13 debit cards, three mobile phones, SIM cards of various companies, passbooks, chequebooks, blank cheques and account opening forms of different banks. During the course of interrogation, both admitted to opening bank accounts in the names of different people and handing over their ATM cards, SIM cards and banking details to cyber criminals. Uttam Kumar Das also confessed to opening several accounts in his own name and supplying the associated cards and SIMs to various fraudsters.
The investigation established that Tapan Biswas was operating suspicious accounts and played a crucial role in transactions involving the cheated money, while Uttam Kumar Das’s accounts were used in the second layer of transfers of the victim’s funds. Both were engaged in providing accounts, ATM cards and SIM cards to organised cyber crime gangs.
SSP STF Ajai Singh shared with the media that the cyber crime police station Dehradun had received a complaint in March from a resident whose mobile phone was hacked by unknown cyber fraudsters. His email ID and mobile number were changed and an amount of nearly Rs 24.95 lakhs was fraudulently withdrawn from his company’s bank account. During the investigation, the data trail led to West Bengal. A team was sent on 14 June and on 18 June, acting on specific intelligence, two accused, Tapan Biswas and Uttam Kumar Das, were arrested from 24 Parganas. From their possession, 13 debit cards, three mobile phones, SIM cards of different companies, passbooks, chequebooks, blank cheques and account opening forms were recovered. Both accused admitted to opening bank accounts in the names of different persons and providing their ATM cards, SIM cards and banking details to cyber criminals. Uttam Kumar Das had also opened several accounts in his own name and supplied the associated cards and SIMs. The investigation has revealed that Tapan Biswas was operating suspicious accounts and played a vital role in the transactions of the cheated money, while Uttam Kumar Das’s accounts were used in the second layer of transfers. Both were actively working for organised cyber crime gangs by providing accounts, ATM cards and SIM cards. Singh added that the recovered material has been duly sealed and taken into custody and that legal action is being taken against the accused as per rules and further investigation is continuing in the case.
