Our Reporter
Dimapur, March 16 (EMN): A foreign national, from Ivory Coast, has been
arrested for fraudulent bank transaction in Dimapur, the deputy commissioner of
police Zone-I, Naieem Mustafa informed on Monday. He was arrested on March 13
and a case has been registered at East Police Station, Dimapur.
During preliminary investigation, police found out that the accused had used more than 100 bank accounts of different banks in Dimapur and transactions around INR 1 lakh to INR 2 lakh were made per day. Mustafa informed that a request has been made to the banks to close the accounts used by the accused person.
During investigation, it was found that the accused had used fake names, fake mobile numbers and bogus bank accounts to commit the crime.
Dimapur police had to conduct ‘an intense inquiry’ to verify a number of accounts involved in this activity. During the investigation, the account holders were identified and located and on examining them, they were found to be homemakers and students from villages. On questioning them, they stated that some of their kin had contacted them and asked to open bank accounts for which they would be paid INR 3,000. Due to poverty and ignorance, they sold their bank account passbook, ATM cards and chequebook to the unknown person for just few thousand rupees.
The police found out that the accounts were being used for fraud and other criminal purposes in Delhi and other parts of India.
Dimapur police formed a ‘special team’, who had to work day and night for around 15 days, to burst the racket. The team could identify six mobile numbers, traced to Tilak Nagar area in Delhi, which were being used to target innocent people here in Dimapur.
Accordingly, the team followed the leads and zeroed down to one of the main accused persons, identified as Gbamele Alex alias Paul, age 30, who along with his other accomplices were involved in the fraud. The team then proceeded to Delhi and arrested the said accused person on March 13 and brought him to Nagaland on Saturday, along with recovered laptops and mobile phones. A case has registered against him under section-419/420/120B IPC R/W- 66D IT Act and he will be in police remand for 10 days.
The police informed that the modus operandi of these fraudsters was to lure underprivileged local girls with promise of a better life. Further, they also convinced local women to live with them in Delhi and use them as agents to procure bank accounts from underprivileged locals from Nagaland.
The police officer advised all citizens not to be lured by such kind of lucrative offers as these fraudsters use social media to contact people. He warned against sharing personal information (OTP, confidential details) and if any person is approached through social media or in person offering to buy/sell accounts or any other details, one should report it to the police immediately.
In another case, Ripu Daman Singh from Delhi, who runs a travel agency called Trip Craving, has been arrested for committing fraud under section - 406/420/465/471 IPC.
According to the police, a Dimapur-based church fellowship had planned a “holy land tour” in the month of September 2019 and had approached Singh to make necessary arrangements for which they paid INR 36,65,000. However, Singh did not provide them with the necessary documents (Visa, Air Tickets etc.) as scheduled.
On Singh's request, they re-scheduled their tour to February 4, 2020 for which he assured that all the necessary credentials would be completed; only for him to issue fake air tickets and itinerary.
On January 29, they sent a notice asking Singh to refund the amount along with 40 passports. However, they did not receive any reply from him, and therefore the group lodged an FIR at East Police Station Dimapur.
Dimapur police then rushed to Delhi and arrested the accused person from Chander Vihar, West Delhi and recovered 40 passports from his possession. The accused is in the custody of East PS, Dimapur.