Cops unearth J'khand-based duping racket

Kolkata: The Detective Department of Kolkata Police in association with the Special Task Force(STF) unearthed a Jharkhand-based racket that would convince innocent people to disclose their personal banking details over phone and siphon off money from their accounts. Eight persons of the gang were picked up on the basis of a tip-off from Maidan area on Monday. The gang operated from Jamtara in Jharkhand. For the past few months, complaints have flooded the Anti-Bank Fraud section of Kolkata Police regarding phone calls from frauds impersonating as bank managers. "The fraudsters resort to new tricks every time to outsmart the innocent public and collect their OTP (One Time Password) etc. Sometimes the fraudsters would demand bank details and other secret information to link the Aadhar Card or even GST numbers to the savings account of their targets," a senior official said. After receiving the complaints, the police started collecting information and monitoring the phone numbers of the miscreants. The sleuths laid their networks and started monitoring the movements of the group. "We came to know that Jamtara is becoming banking fraud capital of India with many youth involved in this racket. They have even made training arrangements for the youths," the official added. Sleuths informed that they revealed that it was a part of their training curriculum to visit Kolkata.