Tab funds fraud: 2 more in cop net from Chopra, total arrests 49
Times of India | 8 December 2024
12 Kolkata: Two more persons were arrested from Chopra by Asansol-Durgapur City Police on Thursday for their direct role in the tab funds misappropriation cases. This brings the total number of arrests by Bengal Police to 40. Kolkata Police arrested nine, taking the total to 49.
In all, 160 FIRs were registered —142 by Bengal Police and 18 by Kolkata Police. According to Bhawani Bhawan, a total of 2,298 victims of this scam were identified.
Police said the fraudsters operated in three main groups: some gathered portal-related information, some teachers were involved and others accessed the portal to transfer money to different accounts. The remaining members misled villagers to collect personal information and opened accounts where the money was sent. Hundreds of accounts received money this way, and police were able to identify those who withdrew the money. They are being apprehended one by one.
The duo from Chopra reportedly obtained documents from bidi workers, promising them benefits from govt schemes, to extract money from them. Previously, a young man from Kishanganj arrested in Siliguri used a similar method to acquire documents from tea workers.
Money from each student was sent to separate accounts to avoid detection. However, this strategy did not ultimately succeed.