Tab funds fraud: ‘Mastermind’ teacher, 2 aides held in Siliguri
Times of India | 19 November 2024
Kolkata/Siliguri/Malda: Kolkata Police arrested a 28-year-old teacher who taught in Chopra's Maricha Goalgacha School and was allegedly the mastermind behind the tab scam on Monday from Siliguri's Sevoke Road along with two of his aides.
The accused, Dibakar Das, knew the date the tab money was to reach the school account as he had taken part in a meeting. Police said that Das accessed the district code and the unique school code and replaced the accounts of the students with fraudulent ones.
Police also arrested Das's aides Gopal Roy, 28, and Bishal Dhali, 23, both residents of Siliguri and relatives. While Bishal worked in finance, Gopal was a mechanic. "Our SIT team reached Kishangunj on Nov 16 and went to Siliguri the next day based on a tip. We arrested three people in front of a popular shopping mall on Sevoke Road," said additional CP (II) Murlidhar Sharma.
Islampur Police on Sunday evening stopped a Malda-bound bus and arrested four suspects, all from Chopra, who were trying to leave the state via Kishangunj of Bihar. They were allegedly involved in tab fraud cases in East Midnapore's Tamluk. Police said the arrested — Mansur Ali, Rawsan Jamal, Motakader Ali and Osman Ali — were among the kingpins of the scam. Later, East Midnapore Police arrested a law clerk from Islampur court, Mojammel Haque.
"It appears that some schools did not follow instructions and change passwords allotted to them. The accused managed to access the codes and carry out the crime. People who let the culprits use their bank accounts for the crime were given commissions. The offer of being mule account donors was spread across Chopra through word of mouth," said a senior investigator.
Jhargram Police, working with Bidhannagar Police, arrested Majharul Alam, 24, of Chopra on Monday at a rented accommodation at Thakdari. This brought the total number of arrests to 22.
Police said the number of victims in the scam stood at 1,911, with 120 FIRs registered across Bengal so far.