In a joint operation by the Kolkata police, nine individuals were arrested across two separate locations—Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh—for orchestrating a series of cybercrimes that targeted victims from Kolkata, Mumbai, London, and Paris. The two gangs had set up fake IT offices that appeared legitimate, with employees working late into the night offering tech support to clients. However, the operations were, in fact, fronts for online scams.
The gang operating from Gorakhpur focused its efforts on wealthy traders in Kolkata. The accused, Shivam Pandey (27) and Abhishek Pandey, used a clever tactic to defraud a businessman from Gariahat. The victim received a message about his electricity line being disconnected, followed by a phone call from the fraudsters. They convinced him to click on a malicious link, which ultimately gave them access to his bank account. The victim was left with a loss of Rs28.2 lakh.
In Jamshedpur, the fraudsters targeted London-based victims. The police raided a location in Golmuri area of Jamshedpur, where they arrested seven members of a similar cyber fraud gang. Among the arrested were Amrik Singh alias Rinku, Vivek Gupta, Tanu Das, Gaurav Chaudhary, Manish Chaudhary, Sandeep Kumar Ram, and Praveen Chaudhary—all of whom had ties to Kolkata and Howrah. The gang leader, Saurabh Kumar Sinha, who had been managing operations from Telco Ghadi Park, and Rameez Raza Khan, who provided the space for these activities, are still at large.
The arrested gang members used various methods to defraud their victims, including remote access apps like AnyDesk and Spare Parts, alongside cryptocurrency transactions and MoneyGram services. Personal data of foreign nationals, particularly from London and Paris, was supplied to the gang by Singh. The scam proceeds were routed online to Saurabh Kumar Sinha, who allegedly paid his associates commissions based on the value of the frauds.
Police have launched an investigation into the network’s operations and are working to apprehend the remaining members. The arrested individuals have been charged with multiple offenses, including fraud, cybercrime, and conspiracy.