Kolkata: Four foreign nationals were arrested for debit card fraud by Barrackpore Commissionerate in the wee hours on Wednesday.
Sleuths recovered cash worth Rs 70 lakh, a laptop and a substantial amount of dollars from their hideout in Belgharia.
Of the four arrested two are Bangladeshi nationals while the other two are Turkish.
"The gang operated not only in Kolkata but also in cities places such as Silchar, Mumbai and Tripura. They were nabbed after receiving inputs from Mumbai police ," a senior official of the detective department of Barrackpore Commissionerate said. Speaking about the modus operandi of the gang, the official informed that the two Bangladeshi nationals were involved in ground work for collection of data pertaining to debit cards used for transactions in shopping malls, restaurants and other places.
They would use their expertise to collect the debit numbers while swiping and there have been instances when they have also succeeded in taking photographs of some cards as well. The duo would then assemble such cards and hand it over to their Turkish friends who would use a special software and would siphon money from bank accounts through electronic transfer.
They would also convert the money into dollars in quick time so that the police face difficulty in detecting the money that they laundered.
"Till date we have received information of 71 such operations undertaken by the gang and there have been 41 complaints lodged in places such as Mumbai, Silchar, Tripura and Kolkata against the fraudsters," an investigating officer said.
Two Bangladeshis, who had been to Dadar and Byculla in Mumbai, arrived in Kolkata on November 5 and had taken an apartment on BT Road at Belgharia on rent at Rs 1200 a month.
"Md. Rafikul Islam and Md. Hannan being Bangladeshi did the data collection work taking advantage of their similarity in appearance with Indian while the two Turks avoided venturing outside due to their distinctly different appearance," an officer said.
It is learnt that Mumbai police and Assam police will soon be in the city to interrogate the arrested persons.