BHOPAL: The cyber cell has arrested five men involved in duping a retired BHEL official of Rs 10 lakh, in the name of KYC update and other bank formalities. The gang, which operated from a village on the border of Jharkhand and West Bengal, have so far duped over a thousand people in different states of over crores of rupees. The police, however, are yet to confirm the number of victims. The gang was active for the last five years.
Police said the prime accused Mohammad Imran is an engineering graduate. He used to call the victims posing as bank officials. The other accused Abhishek Kumar Singh would arrange for the bank accounts where money would be transferred.
This April, the accused called up the retired official in Bhopal and kept on asking for details about his bank account, until they had relieved him of Rs 10 lakh. After the incident, a complaint was lodged with police and during the probe, the locations of the accused were found near Jharkhand.
They told police that most of their victims were from the Hindi speaking belt. They have targeted people in Delhi, Haryana, MP, Chhattisgarh and other states. They are also facing charges in different police stations in Jharkhand for these activities. They have been arrested for the crime but they would resume their illicit activities after their release from jail.
Additional superintendent of police (ASP), Ankit Jaiswal, said the accused are being quizzed and police are trying to find out if they have duped other people in the state. We will contact those victims and lodge FIR in those cases as well, said the officer.
Modus operandi
The gang used social media to pick their targets. The fraudsters would visit their profile and assess their profession as well as bank balance. The gang would randomly dial any of the chosen numbers and dupe the account holders. Posing as bank official, the accused in the name of KYC update would seek details and then get access to their account and e-wallets.
