2 cyber fraud case accused arrested from West Bengal

In the first case, the police arrested Raj Kumar Shaw of Howrah for allegedly extorting Rs 9.51 lakh from a city resident through a "digital arrest" scam. The victim was allegedly told over the phone that she was linked to a case of money laundering and human trafficking. She was made to transfer the money to an account that investigators traced back to Shaw. He was arrested during a raid in Howrah.

In the second case, the police arrested Mohammad Umar, a native of Gaya, Bihar, currently residing in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, for allegedly duping another city woman of Rs 23.27 lakh through a fake investment scheme. The complainant had responded to a Facebook advertisement and was later added to a WhatsApp group. The group admin allegedly instructed her to transfer funds to multiple accounts. Investigators traced Rs 17.30 lakh of the amount to Umar’s bank account. A team raided a place in Howrah and arrested him. The accused told the police that two more persons were involved in the scam.

Both accused were produced before the court and sent to judicial custody. The police said further raids were planned to nab the remaining suspects.

The SP, Cyber Crime, Geetanjali Khandelwal, said the arrests reflected the department’s focus on tracking money trails to the source.

Cases have been registered under Sections 319(2), 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The digital-arrest case also include an additional charge under Section 308(7).