Kolkata: The Kolkata Police has busted an inter-state online racket, arresting seven people and seizing multiple ATM cards, Aadhaar cards and mobile phones used in the scam, an officer said.
Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a vehicle on Taratala Road in South Kolkata and arrested four men from Santoshpur in South 24-Parganas on Tuesday.
“A backpack was found in the vehicle containing numerous ATM cards. After interrogating them, police launched raids in Howrah and arrested three more persons in front of a shopping mall in Shibpur,” he said. The trio, all residents of Bhadrak district in Odisha, were identified as SK Shahid Qadri, SK Alimuddin
and SK Firoz.
Those arrested from Taratala were identified as Sahinur Rahman Fakir, Sheikh Rahul, Sheikh Asfaq and Ashiq Mistry, all residents of the Santoshpur area, the officer said.
“They were reportedly staying at a hotel in the Golabari area of Howrah, which was also raided and additional fraudulent materials were recovered from the hotel room,” he said.
Preliminary investigations suggest the gang rented bank accounts to receive scam proceeds and withdrew money using ATM cards. A suo motu case has been registered.