7 days ago
Cops recover 35L lost by Survey Park doc to digi arrest fraud
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Kolkata: Cops have recovered around Rs 35 lakh of a total of Rs 1 crore that was lost by a Survey Park victim last Nov in a digital arrest fraud. The crime was planned and carried out from Bangur and Lake Town.
Around Rs 28.4 lakh was returned to the victim, a doctor, at Lalbazar on Thursday even as six persons — all from Kolkata — have been arrested so far.
"On Thursday, the IO of the Bank Fraud Section of Detective Department refunded the seized cash to the complainant, Utpal Bit, after getting an order from the court. A cash amount of Rs 28,37,400 was handed over. Earlier, Rs 1.7 lakh was blocked and restored. Another Rs 5 lakh is already blocked and under the process of refund," said Joint CP (crime, traffic) Rupesh Kumar.
According to Kumar, the victim was falsely threatened with arrest, with the fraudsters taking the name of Mumbai Police, claiming Bit was involved in money laundering and later cheated him of Rs 1 crore through different transactions. The case has seen significant developments with the arrest of six suspects so far. Three — Subrata Mallick (32), Pankaj Mallick (36), and Bishnu Agarwal (51) — were recently apprehended from an office in Bangur Avenue, adding to the earlier arrests of Suraj Kumar Singh, Arman Akhtar Khan and Md Jahinuddin.
Probe revealed a sophisticated money laundering operation where fraudsters converted the stolen funds into cryptocurrency.
During raids, police seized crucial evidence including five mobile phones, two laptops, a cash counting machine, and four cheque books. Probe uncovered that Singh held the beneficiary account, while Khan managed its operations. The money was then passed through a chain involving Jahinuddin and Subrata Mallick before being converted to cryptocurrency.
Sit said, "I retired in 2023 from Calcutta Medical College. In 2024, I received a call from fraudsters saying they were from Mumbai Police and working under instructions from CBI. They said I had opened several illegal accounts to siphon off money. I got scared and paid almost my entire life's savings. I approached KP when I realized there is no such things as digital arrest. I am thankful that cops have returned a substantial amount of my money.
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Commissioner of police Manoj Verma has taken a strong stance against cybercrime, implementing structural changes to combat such incidents effectively. "Blocked funds must be returned to victims quickly and without obstacles," the commissioner said.
