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Dipankar Barman, key accused in online trading scam, arrested from Goa homestay
Police said ₹27 lakh in cash, gold jewellery and a passport were seized from Dipankar Barman at the time of his arrest
GUWAHATI: Dipankar Barman, promoter of an online trading company accused of duping investors of crores of rupees in Assam and several other states, was arrested from a homestay in north Goa after painstaking investigations into the case, a top Assam police officer said on Monday.
Guwahati commissioner of police, Diganta Barah, said the 29-year-old, who had managed to evade the police for over two months, was arrested on Sunday and was being brought to Assam.
“Following complaints from some investors against Barman and his company DB Trading and Consultancy, we lodged the first case of online trading scam on August 22. But news about the company’s dubious methods had already appeared in the media, and Barman fled from Assam two days earlier on August 18,” said Barah.
The accused stopped using his phone and all social media and payment apps from August 21 making it difficult for the police to track him. But five others, Barman’s parents, his two female friends and his charted accountant. were arrested in Guwahati and interrogated.
“We later got leads that he could be in Goa. A police team was sent there, and they stayed there for two weeks. We also approached the Goa Police crime branch and sought their help in tracking Barman. Finally, on Saturday, we came to know about his exact location and managed to nab him the following day,” said Barah.
The officer said Barman used to change hotels frequently, rarely staying more than 3-4 nights at one place. At the time of his arrest, he was staying at a homestay in a remote location.
Cash worth over ₹27 lakhs, some gold jewellery and a passport were found in Barman’s possession.
On Monday, Barman was produced in a court in Goa’s Pernem, which granted Assam Police three days transit remand to bring Barman to Guwahati. He is likely to reach Assam on Tuesday.
“Proper interrogation of the accused will take place after he arrives at Guwahati. Since cases against Barman and his firm are lodged in several other states as well as the CBI, in coming days he will be handed over to those agencies for further investigation,” Barah said.
The entire scam, which involved different persons operating individually across Assam by promising huge returns on money invested in online trading of stocks, had come to notice in August after Barman went missing after collecting an estimated amount of ₹7,000 crores from investors.
The Assam Police registered 32 cases and arrested at least 60 people before handing over the case to CBI in September.
