Bangladeshi national held with drugs, 2 Romanians convicted for cloning cards and more
Kolkata: The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police arrested two people on Friday and seized Yaba tablets from their possession. Police said acting on a tip-off, STF's Anti-Fake Indian currency note team intercepted two persons — one a Malda resident and another a Bangladeshi national — on the Durgapur Siding Road beside Garden Reach-Majerhat Flyover under South Port police station area.
"Seven packets of amphetamines, commonly known as Yaba, were seized from their possession", said police. The accused have been identified as Md. Ismail Hossain (43) and Kariful Sk (36).
Hussain is a Bangladeshi national, while Kariful is a resident of Englishbazar in Malda. They have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Two Romanians sentenced to six months in jail for cloning cards
A magistrate's court in Kolkata on Friday sentenced two Romanian nationals to six months of imprisonment for cloning debit/credit cards. Robert George and Marianu Alin were each ordered to pay a fine of Rs40,000.
The chargesheet was filed against four Romanian nationals, including Laurentiu Caius and Adrian Lupu. Charges are yet to be framed against Caius, while Lupu, against whom a look out circular was issued, is absconding.
The case dates back to April 10, 2019, when the manager of a Punjab National Bank branch on Brabourne Road told police that some miscreants were cloning debit/credit cards after installing a skimming device and a tiny camera at the branch ATM, according to prosecution. Skimming devices are used to obtain card details, which help frauds clone debit/credit cards.
CCTV footage showed two foreign nationals fitting some devices into the ATM. The same evening, one of the two foreign nationals spotted in the footage returned to the ATM and was arrested. Caius told police about Lupu, who is still absconding, and his associates in Delhi. George and Alin were arrested from there. Police recovered skimming devices, a camera module, a laptop and blank plastic cards.
Hare Street Police had registered a case under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) , 420 (cheating) , 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (purpose of cheating) , 471 (using forged document as genuine) of the IPC.
Manoj Kumar Verma, a 1998-batch IPS officer and present commissioner of police (CP), Barrackpore, will be awarded the Chief minister's Police Medal for Outstanding Service on August 15.
Apart from Verma, Sanjay Singh, a 1992-batch IPS officer posted as ADG South Bengal, and Vineet Kumar Goyal, a 1994-batch IPS posted as Director Security, West Bengal, will also receive the award. The Chief Minister's Police Medal for Commendable Service will be presented to five IPS officers — Pandey Santosh, C Sudhakar, Meeraj Khalid, Shyam Singh and Debasmita Das.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to hand over the medals on Independence Day.
According to sources, Verma's role in controlling law and order in Bhatpara and other areas under the Barrackpore police commissionerate is among the reasons for him to be chosen for the award. On June 20, the state government decided to appoint Verma as the Barrackapore CP.
Shortly after taking charge, Verma successfully controlled the law and order situation in the area and also reached out to the public. Criminals were arrested and bombs were seized in Bhatpara, Kankinara and other trouble-prone areas. Police successfully established area dominaton and Verma himself was seen marching in trouble-torn areas.
After Lok Sabha polls results, as BJP candidate Arjun Singh won from Barrackpore, reports of violence were regularly reported from various areas.
Verma had earlier played an important role in countering Maoist activities in West Midnapore district from 2009 to 2011. He was also posted as the IG Darjeeling during the violent movement for Gorkhaland in the hills in 2017. He also played a major role in restoring law and order there.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
