Latest news with #BidhannagarPolice
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Kolkata scam trail leads to foreign cyber gangs; Salt Lake residents targeted
Representative image KOLKATA: Bidhannagar Police, probing a series of digital-arrest cases where hundreds from Salt Lake, New Town, Kolkata and adjoining areas have been duped of several lakhs, is preparing to send a team to South-East Asian nations following evidence of the involvement of foreign cybercrime syndicates. Cops have traced the source of several such frauds to syndicates operating out of Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand that are allegedly run by Chinese cartels who employ Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese and Bangladeshis. An officer said they have initiated steps to coordinate with local authorities in South-East Asia and contacted the MEA and Interpol for assistance. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata 'We have found clear evidence of the involvement of multiple foreign syndicates and traced the money flow to Chinese cartels. We are preparing a team to travel to Cambodia and Vietnam and bust these rackets in coordination with local police,' said a senior officer of Bidhannagar City Police. 'South-Asians, including Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Nepalese, are being actively recruited by these syndicates. We have arrested multiple such employees who confided that they were lured by fake job offers and then forced to work in call centres involved in cybercrime,' the officer said. He added that the Centre was recently able to bring back from Cambodia and Thailand 600 Indian employees who are now helping cops with the investigation. In the country's first digital-arrest conviction, where a Kalyani trial court sentenced nine criminals to life imprisonment on Friday for conning a Ranaghat man to pay them Rs 1 crore, investigators traced the origin of the video calls to Cambodia even though the WhatsApp number being used was linked to a SIM card issued by a private Indian telecom company. Police said the scammers' fluency in Bengali and Hindi was the first red flag. The nine persons convicted were part of a gang that, investigators claimed, had amassed Rs 100 by duping 108 people across the country. 'The multilingual operatives could easily deceive the victims, particularly the elderly and those unfamiliar with digital systems,' said the officer. The scammers also recruited individuals across India to act as mule account holders or those who allowed their bank accounts to be used in exchange for a commission. Once victims transferred funds under threat, the money was quickly moved through these accounts. 'The stolen money was then converted into USDT (Tether), a cryptocurrency, and later withdrawn. Telegram channels and Chinese messaging apps were used to coordinate these activities and transfer information. To bypass banking safeguards, the scammers used software tools that forwarded OTPs and banking details to handlers abroad, allowing remote access to victims' accounts,' the officer added. The funds were routed through bank accounts in Cambodia, Singapore, China, and Nepal, making it difficult for Indian authorities to track them, he said.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Time of India
Update visitor details daily, cops tell New Town guest houses
Kolkata: In a bid to tighten surveillance and prevent crimes, Bidhannagar Police have directed all hotels, guest houses, and luxury accommodations in Salt Lake, New Town, Rajarhat, Lake Town and surrounding areas to submit daily guest lists to the local police stations and upload the same on an internal app. Cops said failure to comply with the order could lead to legal action. The directive follows a similar order to landlords and housing societies to share details of tenants and ensure they possess valid police clearance certificates. The directive comes in the wake of intelligence indicating a influx of illegal Bangladeshi nationals into Kolkata and its peripheries. "We had a meeting with general managers' of five-star and four-star hotels in our jurisdiction, asking them to regularly upload the guest list on the internal app. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata We have also asked guest houses and paying guest accommodations to follow the same," said a senior officer. The officer said all hotels and guest houses have been asked to take a photograph of the guests and fill up a personal details form. —Tamaghna Banerjee
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Time of India
Man loses 1.7 lakh seeking 152 refund
Kolkata: An attempt to lodge a complaint and seek a refund for food worth Rs 152 over an online food delivery platform led to a loss of Rs 1.7 lakh for a Salt Lake resident after he ended up sharing sensitive banking and card information with a fake customer care representative. Probing into the case, police arrested a man from Pune on Monday. According to the complaint filed at Bidhannagar South PS, the man ordered food online on Dec 12, 2022, and posted a complaint about the quality of the food, seeking a refund. He later received a call from someone claiming to be a customer care executive. During the call, the victim was tricked into sharing sensitive bank and credit card information. Soon after, a total of Rs 1.7 lakh was debited from his bank accounts. During the investigation, police found that Rs 50,000 of the stolen funds was transferred to a nationalised bank linked to a PAN card in the name of Pradeep Munda. Further analysis of technical inputs and KYC documents helped police trace the identity to Pradeep Dattatray Chavan alias Munda, a Pune resident. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata A team from Bidhannagar Police, with the help of Kothrud Police Station, conducted a raid in Pune and arrested the accused. A mobile phone, PAN card, and Aadhaar card were recovered from him. Chavan was brought to Kolkata and produced before a Salt Lake court that remanded him to 10 days' police custody.
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Time of India
Forex trader 2nd to be arrested in 1 cr digi-arrest fraud case
Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Police on Saturday arrested Debabrata Ghosh, a forex trader from Kazipara in Barasat, for duping an 86-year-old Salt Lake resident of Rs 1.1 crore between Aug 14 and Aug 29 last year with 'digital arrest' threats. Ghosh, a resident of DL Block in Salt Lake, is the second to be arrested in the case. Earlier, Nirmal Vijay from Nagerbazar was arrested. They have been booked under BNS sections for digital fraud and impersonation. The victim, Shambhu Nath Choudhury, a resident of Sector II, Salt Lake, was targeted by the scamsters, who posed as officers from "Ambani Police Station". The fraudsters claimed his Aadhaar card was linked to a money laundering case and threatened him with arrest. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata During the raid on Friday, police seized various documents and articles from Ghosh's possession that were linked to the forex trading aspect of the scam. The total amount siphoned from the victim reached Rs 1,10,93,000, transferred from his accounts in three banks. The Bidhannagar Cyber Crime PS is continuing its investigation to identify and apprehend other members of the fraud ring.
Time of India
28-06-2025
- Time of India
Two arrested for 1.1 cr cyber frauds
Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Police has arrested two men in two cases of digital fraud, which together led to a loss of Rs 1.1 crore. In the first case, Nirmal Vijay was arrested from Nagerbazar for defrauding an elderly Salt Lake resident, Shambhu Nath Choudhury, of Rs 1 crore by posing as police officers and intimidating him over calls. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Documents related to the crime were recovered from Vijay. In another incident, Jharna Basak, from Bidhannagar East PS area, lost Rs 9 lakh in an OTP fraud. Accused Vikas Kumar Nishad was arrested from Jharkhand for his alleged involvement. He was brought to Kolkata on transit remand. Also, an FIR was registered at the Bidhannagar cyber cell on Friday against an investment scam, which defrauded multiple victims of Rs 4.4 lakh through a fake trading app.
