The Uttarakhand police’s cybercrime wing has arrested a 22-year-old man from his flat in West Bengal’s Kolkata for allegedly duping a retired doctor of ₹10.50 lakh posing as a treasury officer on a phone call, a senior official said on Monday.
Police have also recovered 16 sim cards, 6 debit cards and two mobile phones from the accused, identified as Abhishek Shaw. Senior superintendent of police (SSP), special task force (STF), Ayush Agarwal said Shaw was earlier arrested by the Kolkata police for cyber fraud but continued to commit similar criminal activities after coming out of jail.
Harish Lal, a resident of Nainital district’s Haldwani, had given a complaint to the Haldwani police station on October 26, 2022, that an unidentified caller had duped him of ₹10.50 lakh by posing as a treasury officer, said senior superintendent of police (STF), Ayush Agarwal, adding the investigation of the matter was subsequently transferred to the cybercrime wing.
“During investigation, the investigation officer came to know that the duped money was withdrawn in West Bengal and Bihar through different ATMs. Subsequently, a team was immediately sent there. For 15 days, the team scanned CCTV clips and searched the possible areas. The team also conducted raids in Bihar’s Hajipur, Vaishali and West Bengal’s Kolkata,” he said.
“The police team arrested the accused, Abhishek Shaw, a resident of Vaishali in Bihar, from his flat in Kolkata’s Kasba locality. The police also seized the SIM cards, mobile phones and debit cards from the accused,” he said. “After arrest, the accused was brought to Uttarakhand on transit remand,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The police team arrested the accused, Abhishek Shaw, a resident of Vaishali in Bihar, from his flat in Kolkata’s Kasba locality. The police also seized the SIM cards, mobile phones and debit cards from the accused,” he said. “After arrest, the accused was brought to Uttarakhand on transit remand,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}He said they have been collecting information about the accused’s criminal past with the assistance of their counterparts in other states.