Six individuals were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly embezzling funds allocated by the state government for purchasing tablets. The arrests took place across different regions in Bengal. In North Dinajpur’s Chopra, Kolkata Police detained two men—Krishnapada Barman (38) and Sariful Islam—while the East Burdwan Police and Baishnabnagar PS apprehended four more suspects in Malda: Rocky Sk (32), Sraban Sarkar (24), Jamal Hossain (30), and Pintu Sk (25).
These arrests are part of an ongoing investigation involving over 800 cases of fund misappropriation reported across the state. Kolkata alone has seen 63 cases linked to the scam. Authorities are still looking into potential connections between the suspects and whether they are involved in other crimes, including Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) fraud. However, no direct links have been established yet, according to police sources.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint on Tuesday alleging that funds designated for buying tablets did not reach the accounts of 31 students at a school in Sarsuna. One of the arrested individuals was identified as a farmer, and it is believed the fraud was carried out through a cyber cafe. “During our inquiry, the names of Krishnapada Barman and Sariful Islam emerged. After tracking them down, we coordinated with Islampur Police, leading to their arrests. It appears they were acting as mule account holders, receiving Rs 300 for every Rs 1,000 deposited into the account,” explained a senior police officer.
The arrests followed the interrogation of Hashem Ali, who had been previously apprehended in Baishnabnagar. One of those arrested in Malda was a local computer teacher. “Rocky Sk, a contractual computer teacher at Bhagabanpur KBS School in Malda, is accused of sharing login credentials to multiple school accounts, which facilitated the fraud,” added the officer at Bhawani Bhawan.
Authorities continue to investigate the case to determine the full extent of the misappropriation and any potential connections to larger-scale cyber fraud activities.
