The Bidhannagar police in Kolkata arrested three individuals on Tuesday in connection with a digital fraud that defrauded Dr. Utpal Kumar Bit of Rs 1 crore. The accused posed as Mumbai police officers and falsely threatened the victim with a money laundering case, tricking him into transferring the money across three separate transactions.
Dr. Utpal Kumar Bit had filed a complaint at Survey Park police station on November 9, 2024. Following an investigation, the police arrested Suraj Kumar Singh, Arman Akhtar Khan, and Md Jahinuddin in connection with the fraud.
Police discovered that Suraj Kumar Singh’s account was used to receive the stolen funds, while Arman Akhtar Khan had control over the account, withdrawing the money. The funds were then handed over to Md Jahinuddin, who took possession of the amount.
Further investigation led to the arrest of three more individuals from Bangur Avenue in the Laketown police station jurisdiction. Subrata Mallick was found to have been involved in receiving cash from Jahinuddin. A subsequent raid at Subrata Mallick’s office in Bangur Avenue led to the arrests of Pankaj Mallick and Bishnu Agarwal.
During the raid, authorities recovered five mobile phones, two laptops, a cash counting machine, four cheque books, and Rs 28,37,400 in cash. Investigations revealed that Pankaj Mallick and Bishnu Agarwal had used Subrata Mallick’s help to launder the stolen money into cryptocurrency.
The three additional suspects—Subrata Mallick, Pankaj Mallick, and Bishnu Agarwal—will be produced before the Alipore Court on May 7, 2025.
This case highlights the growing sophistication of digital frauds, where scammers impersonate law enforcement officers and use advanced techniques like cryptocurrency to launder stolen funds. The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to dismantle the larger network involved.
